DBS Supervision Exemption Removed: What's Changed and What You Need to Know
If your organisation has paid staff or volunteers who teach, train, instruct, care for or supervise children, there's an important change to DBS legislation on the way that you need to know about.
From 1 September 2026, the "supervision exemption" that currently applies to regulated activity with children is being removed. This is a change introduced by the Crime and Policing Act 2026, and it means that some staff/volunteers who aren't currently classed as being in regulated activity will be from that date, simply because of how often they do the role.
Here's everything you need to know about the change, what it means in practice, and what you should be doing to prepare.
What's actually changed?
Under the current rules, activity with children — paid or unpaid — isn't necessarily classed as regulated activity if the person doing it is sufficiently supervised by someone who is already in regulated activity. This might be a parent volunteer supervised by a class teacher, or a paid instructor supervised by a more senior colleague. This is known as the supervision exemption, and it means organisations can only ask that person for an Enhanced DBS check without a Children's Barred List check.
From 1 September 2026, that exemption no longer applies. If a person teaches, trains, instructs, cares for or supervises children often enough, they'll be in regulated activity regardless of whether someone else is supervising them.
"Often enough" means either:
on more than 3 days in any 30-day period, or
overnight, between 2am and 6am
Once someone meets this threshold, your organisation will be able to ask for an Enhanced DBS check with Children's Barred List information.
Who does this affect?
If someone is already in regulated activity in their own right — a class teacher, for example — nothing changes for them. But if their current status depends on being supervised by someone else who's in regulated activity, they may be newly in scope from 1 September 2026, regardless of whether they're paid. This could include:
reading helpers or classroom volunteers supervised by a teacher;
assistant sports coaches supervised by a head coach;
volunteers at outdoor activity centres, youth groups, charities or community clubs, supervised by someone else in regulated activity;
paid instructors or coaches whose role currently relies on being supervised by a more senior colleague — for example, a paid activity instructor at an outdoor centre, supervised by a senior instructor;
anyone volunteering or working on an overnight school trip, regardless of how often they usually help out.
It doesn't affect regulated activity with adults — this change is specific to children.
What hasn't changed?
Roles already in regulated activity in their own right are unaffected — paid or unpaid. A class teacher, for instance, is in regulated activity regardless of supervision, so this change doesn't touch their status.
Occasional volunteers are still unaffected. If someone helps out less often than the threshold above — for example, at a one-off PTA event or a school day trip that isn't overnight — they won't need an Enhanced check with barred list information.
The underlying eligibility criteria for regulated activity are the same. This change only removes the supervision exemption; it doesn't change what counts as regulated activity in the first place.
It's still an offence for a barred person to engage in regulated activity, or for someone to knowingly allow them to.
A couple of examples
Weekly reading volunteer — A parent helps out every Monday morning listening to children read, always supervised by the class teacher. Before 1 September 2026, they weren't in regulated activity. From 1 September, they will be, because they're doing it more than 3 days in a 30-day period.
Monthly art volunteer — Another parent helps once a month, also supervised by a teacher. Because this doesn't meet the frequency threshold, nothing changes for this role — they're still not in regulated activity.
Overnight trip helper — Any volunteer helping on an overnight school trip is now in regulated activity, even if it's a one-off, because overnight activity is always in scope.
Paid outdoor activity instructor — A paid instructor leads climbing and canoeing sessions for school groups 4 days a week at an outdoor centre, supervised by a senior instructor who is in regulated activity. Before 1 September 2026, the supervision meant the instructor wasn't in regulated activity themselves. From 1 September, they will be — being paid makes no difference here, because the role meets the frequency threshold.
What should organisations do now?
Ahead of 1 September 2026, it's worth working through the following:
Identify affected roles — anyone, paid or unpaid, teaching, training, instructing, caring for or supervising children who is currently exempt due to supervision.
Check frequency — does the role meet the "more than 3 days in 30" or overnight threshold?
Check existing DBS certificates — does the person already hold an Enhanced check with Children's Barred List information, or will a new one be needed?
Update your recruitment, volunteering and safeguarding processes so they reflect the change from 1 September 2026.
Re-check eligibility whenever a role changes — if someone's hours or duties shift, it's worth reassessing whether they now meet the threshold.
If a volunteer splits their time across multiple organisations, it's worth noting that all their regulated activity counts towards the same 30-day threshold — so four days a month split across two different schools would still bring them into scope. It's often easiest for organisations to agree between themselves who submits the check, with the volunteer sharing the result (and ideally joining the DBS Update Service, so it can be checked without needing a new application each time).
Why does this matter?
The supervision exemption was originally there to reduce the burden on organisations relying on well-supervised volunteers. But it also meant that someone barred from working with children could, in theory, still volunteer regularly in a supervised role. Removing the exemption closes that gap — anyone who poses a risk of harm to children won't be able to work with them regularly, in any capacity.
Need help preparing?
If you're not sure which of your volunteers or staff will be affected, or you'd like to get ahead of the 1 September deadline, we're happy to help you work through it. You can give us a call on 01254 355688 or submit a contact form here.