DBS Figures and Statistics
On this page, you’ll find the most up-to-date information and statistics regarding the Disclosure and Barring Service and DBS Checks.
We endeavour to update this information as soon as new data is available but we cannot guarantee this.
DBS Figures OVerview
The Disclosure and Barring Service are a non-departmental government body responsible for criminal record checks and barring in the UK. The DBS was created from two previous agencies, the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) following the Royal Assent of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.
Within the DBS’ first 4 months of operating, 1.2 million DBS certificates were issued. Since then, the DBS has processed more than 60 million DBS Basic, Standard and Enhanced checks. During that period, more than 41,000 individuals have been placed on one or both Barred Lists.
2024/25 Figures Overview
Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, the DBS worked with 91 Responsible Organisations (RO) and 677 Registered Bodies (RB). An RO is an organisation that is registered with DBS to submit Basic DBS checks. An RB is an organisation that is registered with DBS to submit Standard, Enhanced, and Volunteer DBS checks.
Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, the DBS issued a total of 7,272,217 Basic, Standard, Enhanced and Enhanced with Barred List(s) check DBS certificates. This is a decrease of 99,365.
Barring Statistics
The DBS added 6207 people to the barred lists between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.
69,900 people were listed on the Adults’ barred list. An increase of 2119 (+3.58%).
91,015 people were listed on the Children’s Barred List. An increase of 3932 (+4.51%).
104,125 people were listed on one or both Barred Lists. An increase of 5042 (+5.09%).
Current Processing Times
Each month the DBS publish the current average time taken to process each level of DBS application. You can find the most up-to-date figures below :
Enhanced DBS Check processing time: 13.3 days
Standard DBS Check processing time: 1.3 days
Basic DBS Check processing time: 0.8 days
The length of time a DBS Check takes depends on several factors. These include:
The level of DBS Check being carried out.
Whether a search of any Barred Lists is needed
DBS and police workload
How many different areas an applicant has lived in
How the DBS application was submitted
Whether the application form has been completed correctly
Police workload can have a major impact on Enhanced DBS Check turnaround times. Currently, there are 8 police forces across England and Wales which are experiencing delays. These are:
Hampshire & Isle of Wight
Sussex
Thames Valley
Dyfed Powys
Durham
Bedfordshire
Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire
If you or your employees live or have lived in one of these areas and an Enhanced DBS Check has been applied for, it will likely be delayed.
Performance against Published Service Standards
As a public sector organisation, the Disclosure and Barring Service must maintain incredibly high standards of transparency, customer experience and value for money. The most critical areas that the DBS focuses on are collected each year in their Published Service Standards.
For 2023/24, the DBS achieved 7 out of 11 of their reported published service standards. The failure to meet all 11 has been attributed to instability of the DBS’ platforms and one not being applicable, as they did not carry out their annual staff story.
You can find the full published list below:
| KPI description | 22-23 | 23-24 | 24-25 | 24-25 target | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality: barring quality rate of closures (monthly) | 99.86% | 99.97% | 99.92% | >99.50% | Achieved |
| Quality: percentage of all criminality and barring information that DBS should place on a certificate will be included (monthly) | 100% | 99.99% | 99.99% | ≥99.98% | Achieved |
| Quality: customer rating of experience of DBS within previous 3 months (index measure) (annually) | 78.4 | 72.6 | 75.2 | 85 | Not Achieved |
| Timeliness: percentage of Basic DBS certificates despatched within 2 days (monthly) | 85.2% | 87.2% | 88.1% | 85% | Achieved |
| Timeliness: percentage of Standard DBS certificates despatched within 3 days (monthly) | N/A | 88.7% | 90.6% | 85% | Achieved |
| Timeliness: percentage of Enhanced DBS certificates despatched within 14 days (monthly) | 78.4% | 77.1% | 75.6% | 80% | Not Achieved |
| Timeliness: percentage of automatic barring cases completed within 6 months | 98.1% | 98.1% | 98.0% | >97.0% | Achieved |
| Timeliness: percentage of cases where we were Minded to Bar, that were closed within 9 months | 47.8% | 59.5% | 42.1% | >50.0% | Not Achieved |
| Efficiency: efficiencies delivered as a percentage of DBS spending | 5.2% | 5.4% | 5.4% | >5.0% | Achieved |
| People: the engagement level of our employees | 58% | Not Collected | 64.0% | ≥66.0% | Not Achieved |
| People: the diversity of our employees | 2.79% | 4.10% | 5.48% | >7% | Not Achieved |
Basic DBS Checks
A Basic DBS Check is a criminal record check available to anyone in the UK. It is the lowest level of criminal record check available. Basic DBS Checks can be used for any position or purpose, except where a higher level of DBS Check is needed. Individuals can apply for Basic DBS Checks directly, unlike the higher levels of DBS Checks.
A Basic DBS Check (also known as a Basic Disclosure) will contain details of convictions and conditional cautions considered to be ‘unspent’ under the terms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
The statistics below represent the most up-to-date figures available from the DBS’ Annual Report for the 2024/25 financial year.
The average time to issue a Basic DBS Certificate was 0.8 calendar days.
88.1% of Basic DBS Certificates were issued within 2 calendar days
2,642,272 Basic DBS Checks were carried out. An increase of 32,952 (1.25%).
36.79% of all DBS Checks processed were Basic DBS Checks.
sTANDARD DBS Checks
A Standard DBS Check is a more in-depth criminal record than the Basic DBS Check. This level of DBS Checks reveals any spent or unspent criminal convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings. It can only be applied for by employers or organisations.
The statistics below represent the most up-to-date figures available from the DBS’ Annual Report for the 2024/25 financial year.
The average time to issue a Standard DBS Certificate was 1.2 calendar days
90.6% of Standard DBS Certificates were issued within 3 calendar days
423,975 Standard DBS Checks were carried out. An increase of 14335 (+3.50%).
Standard DBS Checks only represent 8% of the total amount of DBS Checks processed in 2022/23
Enhanced DBS Checks
Enhanced DBS checks show spent and unspent convictions and cautions. They may also show if requested, a search of the Children's and/or Adults' barred lists. Local police forces may also release extra information about the applicant as part of the check, if relevant to the job role being applied for.
The statistics below represent the most up-to-date figures available from the DBS’ Annual Report for the 2024/25 financial year.
The average time to issue an Enhanced DBS Certificate was 12.4 calendar days
75.6% of Enhanced DBS Certificates were issued within 14 calendar days.
275,254 Enhanced DBS Checks (without Barred Lists) were processed. An increase of 3,946 (+1.45%).
3,897,764 Enhanced DBS Checks with one or more Barred List(s) included were processed. A decrease of 165,617 (-4.17%).
53.60% of all DBS Checks processed were Enhanced with Barred.
DBS UPDATE SERVICE
The DBS Update Service was launched in June 2013 to streamline compliance in regulated industries. For a small subscription of just £13 per annum, individuals can have ther DBS Certificate kept up-to-date and take it with them from role to role, within the same workforce, where the same type and level of check is required.
The statistics below represent the most up-to-date figures available and includes a combination of data from the DBS’ Annual Report for the 2024/25 financial year as well as the ‘DBS dataset 1: July 2025 to September 2025’:
As of November 2025, there were 2,901,175 active subscribers on the DBS Update Service
85,022 individuals registered for the Update Service in 2024/25
The DBS recorded 3674 status changes to DBS Certificates registered to the Update Service Between April - September 2025.
21,237,978 Update Service status checks were carried out by employers Between April - September 2025.
80% of Update Service subscriptions were renewed in 2024/25.
A status change indicates that relevant information has been identified about the individual since their Disclosure certificate was last issued.