DBS and Occupational Health

As a condition of your chosen course of study, all applicants are required to undergo a UK-enhanced DBS check and the process is explained in detail below. Please note that failure to complete the following process in full within 2 weeks of receiving this notification will prevent you from taking up your place on your chosen award. Before you are made an offer you will be asked to make declarations about your health and your criminal record. These declarations allow us to give fair and reasonable consideration to your application.

Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 you are exempt from the provisions of Section 4(2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Therefore you are not entitled to withhold information about convictions that for other purposes are spent under the provisions of the Act. Please ensure that you make full disclosure. If you have any questions or concerns please seek appropriate guidance via our Admissions Team: email admissions@wlv.ac.uk.

Declaring a health problem or possession of a criminal conviction does not necessarily make you unsuitable for undertaking a professional programme. However, hospitals and other healthcare organisations can prevent access to your placement if you do not have a disclosure certificate. Furthermore, your full enrolment on the course is dependent upon meeting all conditions of your offer applied to you.

Please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions in relation to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Should you already have a recent DBS Enhanced Disclosure certificate to include adult and child barred lists, you are still required to apply for University DBS as they are not transferrable between organisations, unless you have signed up for the update service www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service and the level of check already done matches the level of check required by the University. If you have signed up for the update service, then please bypass the process below and email FEHWDBS@wlv.ac.uk or FSEDBS@wlv.ac.uk to arrange an online status check. Please note you will be required to provide your original disclosure certificate alongside your update reference number and photo ID (passport or driving license).

First, refer to your e:Vision ‘my tasks’ page for the detailed requirements, then progress your payment of £38 via the University’s electronic payment system http://www.estore.wlv.ac.uk/product-catalogue/disclosure-and-barring-service-dbs-formerly-crb - Please retain your receipt as this will contain your login details, secret word and a PIN number which you will need to commence your online application.

The University’s online DBS provider is First Advantage (formerly GBG Online Disclosures).

Please refer back to your e:Vision ‘my tasks’ and continue with your online application as guided. At the end of your DBS application, you will be issued with an ID verification sheet, it is imperative that you Print this off and take it, your ID, and your £6 ID verification fee to the post office.

A list of available Post Offices can be viewed here.

Important information: Please ensure that you follow the  CRB  & ID Verification Service’ under ‘Choose a service’ to find the most convenient post office for you to visit. 

What happens after this?  

Your application is electronically submitted to the DBS in Liverpool for processing.  The process is not completed until you have been issued a DBS certificate.  This will be posted by the Disclosure & Barring Service to the address you used as your current address in the DBS application.  Please note: the University does not receive a copy of student’s DBS certificates.

Once the checks have been completed your Disclosure Certificate will be sent to the address you provided in your application. If you change the address after you have submitted your form, you should make arrangements for the Disclosure certificate to be redirected to your new address.  Important Information: The Disclosure and Barring Service will not issue a second copy of your Disclosure certificate so if there are changes to your address you will need to ensure you notify them before the checks and dispatch are completed. If there are no convictions, cautions, or reprimands listed no further action is required. You do not need to notify the University when you receive your Disclosure certificate, but ensure safe keeping as placement providers (School, Hospital etc) may ask you to produce it or may not be permitted to attend your placement without your DBS certificate.

Please note the University has no control over the length of time a disclosure application takes to complete. In certain cases, the DBS are not able to meet its 90-day target for a number of reasons. For example, if you have a common surname it can take time for the Police to distinguish between one person and another, especially if two people with the same name share the same date of birth. Other reasons for delay can be if the applicant has lived at several addresses in different areas of the country, or simply if your application is made at a particularly busy time of year.

You can track your application online using the DBS’s Tracking Service or through the First Advantage online, online process as long as you ticked the box at the ‘application overview’ stage. 

The DBS produces one hard-copy DBS certificate by post to your home address (as was entered on the DBS application form).  The DBS will not send the hard-copy certificate to a different person or to a different address.  If you have not received your DBS certificates 15 days after the certificate issue date you can request a re-print by calling the DBS on 03000 200 190, option 1 to speak to a DBS representative.

Your place on the course is only at risk if you have not engaged e.g.  Submitted and paid for your DBS application.  If this is with the DBS and is being processed (i.e. you have done everything you need to do), there is no threat to your place on the course. You are encouraged to commence the DBS process as early as you can however to ensure that your enrolment is not compromised or delayed.

No. We receive electronic notification of your DBS result.  

If you have a conviction, caution, or reprimand you will need to provide us with a sight of your original DBS certificate and you will be required to complete a  self-declaration if you did not declare as part of the University application process. If you have declared offenses to us, or if your DBS Disclosure shows offenses or information from the police, then you will be subject to the Faculty Fitness to Practice process.  In these instances, you will be contacted by the Faculty’s Quality Placement Administrator.

DBS certificates do not have any formal period of validity and do not expire. As a student, yours will cover you for the duration of your course unless you take a leave of absence for more than 12 months. In this example, you would have to apply for a new DBS certificate by contacting FEHWDBS@wlv.ac.uk or FSEDBS@wlv.ac.uk before you return from your leave of absence and pay the fees again.

Additionally, if you are involved in any incidents of a criminal nature throughout the duration of your course you are required to declare this and this will be subject to the Faculty’s Fitness to Practice procedures.  The University reserves the right to ask you to apply and pay for a new DBS certificate.

No–this is a common misunderstanding. The Disclosure and Barring Service will not issue copies, and nor can the University get another DBS certificate, you would have to apply again from the very beginning of the process and this would incur another cost of £40 plus the verification cost of £6, therefore it is imperative that you keep your DBS certificate safe.

If you receive a caution, reprimand, or conviction AFTER you have received an Enhanced Disclosure certificate, you must inform the University immediately by contacting FEHWsuitability@wlv.ac.uk – do not disclose any detail at this stage, we will contact you upon receipt of your initial email.

The DBS check is completed by an external company, but you can contact staff who liaise with the company at our university by email, via: FEHWDBS@wlv.ac.uk or FSEDBS@wlv.ac.uk. 

All applicants with a place on a professional course will be expected to complete an online Occupational Health Questionnaire. This questionnaire is designed to assess:

• Your fitness to undertake a professional placement
• Any placement/training adjustment necessary to ensure your safety

This check is an online questionnaire. An email will be sent to you from no-reply@ohims.co.uk (CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER). Complete the online Health Questionnaire via the instructions in this e-mail.

You will receive a 2^nd email asking you to upload your immunisation evidence. You should contact your GP for this information and upload evidence of ALL of your vaccinations.

Any medical condition(s) disclosed in the questionnaire may require follow-up telephone consultation(s) with an occupational health provider nurse/doctor to identify any safety measures to be put in place to enable you to complete your placement. You will need to arrange a suitable date/time for the consultation directly with the occupational health provider.

If you have any concerns regarding your medical history or obtaining your vaccination records then you may speak confidentially to the occupational health nurse at your assessment.

If you do not receive an email, please contact no-reply@ohims.co.uk in the first instance. Otherwsie please contact the university by email at: FEHWOccyHealth@wlv.ac.uk or FSEOccyHealth@wlv.ac.uk 

The Occupational Health check is completed by an external company you can contact them by no-reply@ohims.co.uk.

To contact staff who co-ordinate the checks at our university you can contact them by email via: FEHWOccyHealth@wlv.ac.uk or FSEOccyHealth@wlv.ac.uk. 

If your course stipulates an International Certificate of Good Character check is required, it is important, whilst in your home country, you apply for an in-country criminal records check or ‘certificate of good character’ for the period of time that you have lived abroad. 

You will be required to present the original translated certificate/disclosure in person immediately upon arrival to the UK and upload a copy to E:Vision. Further guidance on the process is available via this link UK Gov: Criminal Record Checks Guidance.

You will then be required to undertake a UK DBS check upon arrival to the UK by following the online process in your e:Vision ‘my tasks’.  Please DO NOT commence your UK DBS application until you have arrived in the UK. Please notify FEHWDBS@wlv.ac.uk or FSEapplicant@wlv.ac.uk on your arrival.   

You must declare and gain an International Certificate of Good Character if you were born in the UK but have worked or resided outside of the UK for any period of time. The relevant checks will need to be cleared if this is a condition of your chosen course. Please email FEHWCompliance@wlv.ac.uk for more information and progression.

Once you have obtained your International Certificate of Good Character checks/police check reports  you will need to do two things:

1. Upload your certificate to your e:Vision page.
2. Email your certificate to FEHWDBS@wlv.ac.uk or FSEDBS@wlv.ac.uk. 

You will need to ensure that your International Certificate of Good Character check is provided in

English in order for verification of your International Good Character check to be processed.  Please

note it is your responsibility to ensure that the translation is undertaken by an official translator,

Translation services are available via 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants

I am an overseas applicant arriving in the UK one week before my course induction start date, I will be unable to complete my UK DBS check until I arrive in the UK will this affect my enrolment? 

The requirement of your course is for you to hold a UK DBS certificate.  However, we acknowledge that this is challenging until you are actually in the UK.  Upon your arrival to the UK, you will need to commence this process with urgency. We ask that you contact our FEHWDBS@wlv.ac.uk or FSEapplicant@wlv.ac.uk upon your arrival to the UK

If you are an applicant applying for a course that is affiliated to a PSRB e.g. NMC/Ofsted/SWE/HCPC  then the following applies:

Health, Allied Health and Social Work applicants to the University of Wolverhampton must have been resident in the UK for two years at the time of their application to the University.

If your residency in the UK is less than two years you will need to provide an International certificate of good character check from your home country.

ITE Education applicants to the University of Wolverhampton must have been resident in the UK  before the age of 10.  If you move to the UK and you were age 10 or above you will need to provide an International certificate of good character check from your home country, for example, if you moved to the UK at the age of 18 you are required to provide an International Certificate of good character from the age of 10 to 18.