DBS Fees Fall on 5 October 2026: Cheaper Checks, Wider Rules

DBS fees drop on 5 October 2026. An Enhanced Check will cost £41 rather than £49.50, so an organisation processing a hundred Enhanced Checks a year will keep up to £850 in government fees that it had already budgeted to spend this financial year.

Five weeks earlier, on 1 September, the definition of regulated activity with children also changed. The supervision exemption was removed, which means roles that previously fell outside regulated activity because the person was supervised may now fall within it, and may be eligible for an Enhanced Check with a Children’s Barred List Check.

The saving arrives alongside a piece of work most employers have not yet done: establishing which roles have moved, and whether the certificates already held still match. For most organisations, that review will take more time than the fee change gives back.

New DBS check costs from 5 October 2026

The Disclosure and Barring Service announced the fee reduction on 9 September, following approval from the DBS board, the Home Office, HM Treasury and the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.

The new government fees broken down:

• Basic DBS Check: £21.50 falling to £20.00
• Standard DBS Check: £21.50 falling to £20.00
• Enhanced DBS Check: £49.50 falling to £41.00
• DBS Update Service: £16.00 falling to £15.00 a year

These are DBS fees for England and Wales. AccessNI and Disclosure Scotland set their own fees.

The largest reduction is on Enhanced Checks, which will cost £8.50 less, a saving of around 17%. An organisation processing 100 paid Enhanced Checks a year will save £850 in government fees before any provider charges are added, and for larger employers in education, health, social care and other safeguarding-focused sectors the overall saving could be considerably higher.

A few points are worth knowing:

• The new fees apply from 5 October – Organisations should check any submission deadlines or charging arrangements with their screening provider.
• Eligible volunteer checks remain free – Standard and Enhanced Checks for qualifying volunteer roles will continue to be free, as will the Update Service for eligible volunteers. Basic Checks are not free for volunteers.
• The quality of checks is not changing – DBS has confirmed that the fee reduction will not affect its standards or the rigour of its checks.
• Provider charges are separate – Registered Bodies and Responsible Organisations may charge an administration fee in addition to the government fee, so the total cost will vary between providers.

Regulated activity with children: what changed on 1 September 2026

Since 1 September 2026, the definition of regulated activity with children has been wider in England and Wales. Corresponding changes have also taken effect in Northern Ireland, where criminal record checks are administered through AccessNI.

The change removed what was commonly known as the supervision exemption. Previously, a person who taught, trained, instructed, cared for or supervised children often enough could fall outside regulated activity if they were sufficiently supervised by somebody who was already carrying out regulated activity, and a parent helping regularly in a classroom under a teacher’s supervision is the usual example.

That exemption has now gone. Where the nature and frequency criteria are met, a role can be regulated activity with children even when the person is supervised, and in England and Wales the organisation may therefore be eligible to request an Enhanced DBS Check with a Children’s Barred List Check.

The change can affect both paid staff and volunteers whose roles were previously considered to fall outside regulated activity solely because they were sufficiently supervised, and its impact extends well beyond schools to sports clubs, childcare providers, faith groups, youth organisations, outdoor activity providers, charities and cultural or heritage organisations. It does not affect the definition of regulated activity with adults.

Nor does it mean that every role involving contact with children is now regulated activity, or that every organisation is legally required to obtain a new DBS check. Employers must still consider the nature of the activity, how frequently it is carried out and all the other relevant eligibility criteria.

Organisations should identify affected roles, review whether existing certificates include a Children’s Barred List Check and decide whether a new application is appropriate in line with their safeguarding responsibilities and any sector-specific requirements.

Three things to review after the DBS fee change

If the fee change is going to be worth more than a line in the budget, these are the three areas to look at.

Review your re-screening arrangements

A DBS certificate reflects the information available when it is issued. It does not have an official expiry date, and there is no single rechecking interval that is suitable for every organisation or role.

Employers should instead take a proportionate, risk-based approach, considering the nature of each role, the people an employee works with, any regulatory or contractual requirements and the consequences if new information is not identified.

Some organisations carry out thorough checks at recruitment but have no clear process for reviewing them later, which can leave long-serving employees working on certificates issued many years earlier without a documented decision about whether another check is appropriate.

A structured rescreening policy keeps those decisions consistent, justified and tied to the risks of the role itself.

Consider whether the Update Service could support ongoing checks

From 5 October, an Update Service subscription will cost £15 a year.

The service allows an eligible employer or organisation to carry out a free, instant online status check on an existing Standard or Enhanced DBS certificate, provided it has the individual’s consent and is legally entitled to request the same level and type of check.

For appropriate roles, this may be quicker and more economical than applying for a new certificate each time a review is due.

It is not, however, a replacement for wider safer recruitment and employment practices. Employers must check that the original certificate matches the workforce, level and barred-list information required for the role, and a change in duties may affect whether the existing certificate remains suitable.

Reassess the checks attached to each role

Jobs change over time, and so does the law.

The removal of the supervision exemption is a strong reason to review roles involving regular work with children, particularly where paid staff or volunteers were previously considered to fall outside regulated activity because they were supervised, and to review any role whose responsibilities, working environment or level of contact has changed since eligibility was last assessed.

Requesting a Standard or Enhanced DBS Check for an ineligible role is unlawful, while requesting one that does not include all the information legally available and appropriate for the role may leave an organisation with an incomplete view of the risk.

Accurate job descriptions and documented eligibility assessments help employers request the correct level of check and explain how that decision was reached.

Use the fee change as a prompt

Lower DBS fees are welcome, particularly for organisations processing large numbers of Enhanced Checks. But the saving is a one-off, and the eligibility questions raised on 1 September will outlast it by years.

Employers should ask whether their role assessments remain accurate, whether their rechecking arrangements reflect current risks and whether the Update Service is being used where it would genuinely help. Where the new fees create room in the screening budget, that saving can fund the review the rule change has made necessary.

DBS costs 2026: frequently asked questions

How CBS can help

We will update our systems, pricing and client materials ahead of 5 October, so applications submitted through CBS from that date will automatically reflect the new government fees.

If you need help assessing which roles are now within regulated activity, reviewing your rescreening arrangements or making better use of the Update Service, our team is here to help.

Call us on 01443 799900 or email client@cbscreening.co.uk