A practical resource that helps employers make consistent, confident and defensible decisions when reviewing DBS disclosures.
“Variation in how DBS disclosures are interpreted and acted upon often leads to inconsistent decisions and unnecessary risk for employers. This framework gives you structured criteria and decision guidance so you can assess DBS results clearly, justify outcomes and support fair, compliant hiring practice.”
Expert Built DBS Employer Decision Guidance
Developed by Graham and Vivianne Johnson, industry-leading screening experts with nearly 20 years' experience conducting criminal record checks across the UK. This expert-developed framework gives you structured, step-by-step guidance to determine the right DBS or Disclosure Scotland check for every role and make defensible decisions when disclosures arise.
Master the complete framework: DBS check levels and eligibility assessment, regulated activity definitions, barred list considerations, role-based decision matrices, adverse disclosure risk assessment, rehabilitation of offenders guidance, the Update Service and PVG Scheme, and ready-to-use employer decision record templates.
Every section includes real-world scenarios from the Johnsons' extensive experience, showing you how to handle the situations that standard guidance never covers.
Perfect for HR professionals, compliance officers, safer recruitment leads, screening administrators, and operations managers responsible for criminal record check decisions.
✓ Created by recognised DBS and screening specialists with proven expertise.
✓ Structured decision frameworks you can apply to every role immediately.
✓ Covers DBS, Disclosure Scotland and PVG Scheme in one document.
✓ Ready-to-use templates for applications, results and adverse disclosures.
✓ Real scenarios from 20 years of operational screening experience.
Decide with confidence. Defend every decision. Hire safely.
Expert Developed | UKRLP Registered Provider.
Why We Built This
We created this framework because most DBS guidance tells you what the check levels are, not how to decide which one to request or what to do when results come back with disclosed information.
From 2006 to 2024, we operated our own screening businesses, processing thousands of DBS and Disclosure Scotland checks. We dealt with roles that fell between eligibility categories, enhanced checks revealing police information that was never prosecuted, and employers unsure whether an old conviction should prevent appointment.
What Makes This Different
You'll learn how to assess eligibility when a role doesn't fit neatly into standard categories. How to conduct a fair risk assessment when a disclosure reveals adverse information. What the barred list obligations actually require. And how the PVG Scheme differs from DBS in practice.
Every decision template and scenario in this framework comes from real situations we've personally handled — the edge cases, the difficult conversations, and the audit questions that generic guidance never prepares you for.
This isn't written by trainers who've read the legislation. It's built by us, practitioners who've lived it for 20 years. Expert developed, UKRLP registered.
Built for professionals responsible for requesting, processing and acting on criminal record check results across UK organisations.
You manage recruitment for roles that require DBS or Disclosure Scotland checks and need confidence that you are requesting the correct level. This framework gives you structured eligibility assessments and decision records to get it right every time.
You are accountable when auditors or regulators ask how DBS decisions are made within your organisation. This framework gives you documented processes, risk assessment templates and a compliance checklist that demonstrate a fair, consistent approach.
You process criminal record checks daily and need clear guidance when results contain disclosed information. This framework gives you step-by-step adverse disclosure procedures and real-world scenarios so you can handle every result with confidence.
Our courses are independently accredited by a recognised CPD body so every completed module converts into verifiable CPD hours you can record.
That means your team’s learning is not just a checkbox — it is formal professional development that holds up in audits, appraisals and regulatory reviews.
Certificates are issued instantly on completion in downloadable PDF format, include course duration and CPD hours, and are produced to a standard that employers, compliance teams and auditors expect.
VH Courses is listed on the UK Register of Learning Providers (UKRLP), a public register that confirms our status as a legitimate training provider.
This registration demonstrates our ongoing commitment to governed, traceable, high-quality learning provision and makes it easier for corporate procurement, public bodies and partners to verify who we are.
In short, it removes doubt for buyers and supports procurement and audit checks.
This framework is designed to be clear and practical, even for beginners. It explains each check level, eligibility rule and decision step so you can handle DBS processes accurately.
Yes. The framework includes ready-to-use decision records, a compliance checklist and documented risk assessment processes so you can evidence fair, consistent DBS decision making at any time.
Yes. You will find structured guidance for assessing adverse information, handling edge-case eligibility decisions and managing situations where standard guidance falls short, all drawn from real operational experience.
Yes. The adverse disclosure framework and risk assessment templates give you a structured, defensible process so you can make fair decisions with certainty rather than guesswork.
The framework is delivered as a professionally formatted PDF available immediately after purchase. You can save it, print it or share it internally across your organisation.