In this article, you'll learn about the results of self-serve United Kingdom (UK) criminal record checks from Certn. This article is part of a set. To learn more, read our overview article for this check and our article about ordering this check.

Open the report

When a UK criminal record check is completed, you can view its results on a report. To open the report from your Certn dashboard, use one of the following methods:

• Select the application.
• On the application’s row, open the Actions menu  and select View Report.

Explanation of results

When your UK criminal record check is complete, the report that becomes available to you shows one of two possible results: 

• Cleared indicates that no relevant records were found. 
• Review indicates that some relevant records were found.

What constitutes a relevant record varies between Basic DBS checks and Basic Disclosure Scotland checks. Additionally, the way that detailed results are distributed differ between the two check types. The sections that follow explain these key differences.

Results of Basic DBS checks

When a Basic DBS check is complete, you receive a report indicating a Cleared or Review result. The result is determined by whether or not relevant records were found. For Basic DBS checks, relevant records include convictions and conditional cautions considered to be ‘unspent’ under the terms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

As the client, you always receive a report showing a Cleared or Review result. However, your report does not contain a detailed listing of the relevant records found, if any. If you want to review the detailed results, you can ask your candidate to consider sharing them with you. Candidates have two options available for receiving detailed results of the check: 

• Paper certificate: While completing our application, your candidate is asked whether or not they would like to receive a paper certificate. If they select ‘Yes,’ then they can specify any address to send it to. If they select ‘No’ and submit their application, then no paper certificate is made. To get a paper certificate after this point, a new background check would be required. 
• Online access: The candidate can access and share their results online by creating an account with the Disclosure and Barring Service. After a Basic DBS check is processed, candidates receive communication directly from the Disclosure and Barring Service by letter or email that includes instructions for accessing and sharing results this way.

If a Basic DBS check you order receives a Review result, learn about possible next steps here.

Results of Basic Disclosure Scotland checks

When a Basic Disclosure Scotland check is complete, you receive a report indicating a Cleared or Review result. The result is determined by whether or not relevant records were found. For Basic Disclosure Scotland checks, relevant records include convictions and conditional cautions considered to be ‘unspent’ by the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020.

As the client, you always receive a report showing a Cleared or Review result. Additionally, your report includes a detailed listing of relevant records found, if any, and a downloadable copy of the paper certificate produced by Disclosure Scotland in the course of this check. Your candidate does not receive this certificate. If your candidate wants to review the detailed results, you can share the downloadable copy of the paper certificate, or you can direct them to submit a request to our Support team. 

If a Basic Disclosure Scotland check you order receives a Review result, learn about possible next steps here.

Next steps

In this section, you’ll learn what to do in scenarios where the check you ordered could not be completed or did not receive a Cleared result.

• Candidate can’t complete identity verification
  Completion of an identity verification check is required for UK criminal record checks. In some cases, candidates may be unable to successfully complete the digital identity verification check included in our UK criminal record checks. If this occurs, then you’ll be notified that you need to carry out the identity verification check manually for your candidate. After you complete the manual identity verification, the criminal record check can resume processing.
  
  
• Basic DBS check result is Review
  If a Basic DBS check you order receives a Review result, you may want to contact the candidate and ask them to consider sharing the detailed results with you. Note that candidates do not always opt to receive results. This means that even if your candidate agrees to share the results with you, they may need some time to obtain them. To learn about ways that candidates can receive detailed results of the check, refer to Results of Basic DBS checks.
  
  
• Basic Disclosure Scotland check is Review
  If a Basic Disclosure Scotland check you order receives a Review result, you can review the detailed findings in the report you receive and the downloadable certificate attached to it. You may also want to contact your candidate to ask them to consider discussing the results with you. As explained in Results of Basic Disclosure Scotland checks, candidates do not receive a copy of the certificate with results, so you may need to share the results with your candidate.