Criminal Records Bureau(CRB) Checks Guidance

Students requiring unsupervised access to children and/or vulnerable adults

Introduction

A large number of students going on placement will be working with children or vulnerable adults. Before they can start such work they must have obtained an enhanced disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) to establish if they have a criminal record.

It is essential that these procedures are completed as early as possible during the admissions process. This will avoid the situation arising of a student starting a programme and then being excluded from the placement(s) when an unfavourable enhanced disclosure is received late. Since the placements are a core part of the programme, exclusion from the placement(s) effectively means exclusion from the programme. We have a responsibility to help applicants avoid starting a programme they cannot finish.

This document applies to -

  • New students registering on programmes where it has been agreed that a mandatory enhanced disclosure is required. These programmes will have requirement included in their specification pages on our website and prospectuses.
  • Current students who, during the course of their studies, wish to register for a module which has been identified as requiring a mandatory enhanced CRB disclosure. Again, the CRB requirement will be flagged on the module specifications.
  • NB. There is a £44.00 for carrying out an enhanced CRB Disclosure, although there are a few groups of students who do not pay. This will be made clear to the students upon request.

Identifying applicants requiring CRB clearance

  • Throughout the year, the Applicant Checks Officer runs daily searches to identify any new students who havefirmly accepted a place on a programme which requires a mandatory CRB check. A CRB Application pack is generated and sent to the student advising them that this must be completed in order to meet the placement requirements of the programme.
  • During enrolment, those requiring a CRB who have applied late or received late offers are picked up by Admissions at that point and are given a form and asked to complete it as soon as possible.
  • All CRB submissions are logged on a database.
  • Module Leaders should remind their students that a CRB clearance must be applied for as early as possible and that they will fail the module if it has a mandatory placement.
  • If a student does not respond to a request for a mandatory enhanced CRB Disclosure, they are notified to the School as being non-compliant. The School will then instigate their own procedures for managing these students.

The CRB Form

It is extremely important that the CRB Form is completed as instructed on the front page. The form will be checked for accuracy prior to sending to the CRB and forms which are illegible, incomplete or the correct ID documents have not been presented will be rejected if they do not meet these standards leading to a delay at the start of a placement.

The applicant is required to show original proof of their ID ( either to the Applicant Checks Officer or nominee (E.g. School Helpdesk staff) who can make and verify copies of original documents so that the CRB Form can be counter-signed, logged and sent to the CRB for processing.

The Applicant MUST NOT send the CRB form or any documents to the CRB!

Tracking a CRB Application Form on-line

This will not tell us when a CRB check will be completed only the stage that it is currently at. Applicants’will need their CRB Form Reference number and Date of Birth to access this information.

Receipt of disclosures

When the CRB have completed all the necessary checks, they will issue a copy of the Disclosure Certificate to the Applicant and a copy will also be send to the person who counter-signed the original application for.

The envelope is marked “Strictly Private & Confidential – For Addressee Only”. The Applicant Checks Officer will record the Disclosure Number and Issue Date on the CRB database and School spreadsheets. A record that a check has been carried out for the student will be also be recorded on Delta.

In the event of the applicant being found to have a criminal record, the Applicant Checks Officer will assess whether the information is relevant and if it needs to be approved before the student can admitted to their chosen programme or, in the case of a current student, whether they can register on a module/attend placements.

The Dean of the appropriate School may be consulted in order for the University to assess whether the offence(s) raise issues of professional suitability, and whether the nature of the offence(s) would pose a possible threat to the safety and welfare of other students on campus when the individual was not on placement. In many cases the criminal record will not be regarded as disqualifying the individual. Each application is looked at on its merits.

Portability (not available to PGCE students)

UEL Policy states that we will accept an existing Enhanced CRB Disclosure that is less than 6 months old if we can get it validated. This usually takes about 2-4 weeks and can also save the applicant the £44.00 Fee. A full copy of the disclosure is required and a signed Consent Form from the applicant giving permission for us to write to the Registered Body for validation. Registered Bodies are not obliged to validate these and if the response is no, then the applicant is asked to complete a new check (and pay for it if required).

For further information please contact:

Lucy Watson

Applicant Checks Officer

Tel. 0208 223 6271

Email:

The Guide to Disclosure and Health Screening Procedures is available on our website at -

Updated February 2012