DBS checks for care workers
Most front-line adult social care roles involve regulated activity with adults, which makes them eligible for an Enhanced DBS check with the Adults’ Barred List. But that follows from the activity a person provides, not from the fact they work in care — so some roles in a care setting are eligible for a lower level. This page shows which activities qualify and how to read a specific role.
When a care role is regulated activity with adults
Regulated activity with adults is defined by the activity provided to an adult who needs it — there is no setting test, no supervision exemption, and no frequency threshold: carrying out a qualifying activity once is enough. [GOV.UK] Personal care means physically helping an adult with things like eating, washing, dressing or using the toilet (or prompting and supervising, or training and advising on those) where they cannot do it themselves because of age, illness or disability. [GOV.UK] Where a role involves one of the qualifying activities, it is eligible for an Enhanced check with the Adults’ Barred List. [GOV.UK]
Care activity → condition → likely DBS route
| Activity provided to the adult | Condition | Likely route (confirm) |
|---|---|---|
| Personal care (eating, washing, dressing, toileting) | Because of age, illness or disability | Regulated activity → Enhanced + Adults’ Barred List |
| Health care | By, or under the direction/supervision of, a regulated health care professional | Regulated activity → Enhanced + Adults’ Barred List |
| Social work | By a regulated social care worker | Regulated activity → Enhanced + Adults’ Barred List |
| Help with cash, bills or shopping | Because of age, illness or disability | Regulated activity → Enhanced + Adults’ Barred List |
| Conveying to/from care, health or social-work services | Because of age, illness or disability (excludes taxi/PHV under a private arrangement) | Regulated activity → Enhanced + Adults’ Barred List |
| Ancillary role in a care home with the opportunity for contact (catering, cleaning, maintenance, admin) | Not regulated activity, but has contact with residents | Enhanced without a barred-list check if on more than 3 days in 30; Standard if less frequent; Basic if no contact. Confirm. |
Auxiliary care-home roles are not automatically Basic: guidance for adult social care confirms that cleaning, maintenance and administration staff with the opportunity for contact with residents are eligible for an Enhanced check without a barred-list check when the work is carried out on more than three days in a 30-day period, and a Standard check when it is less frequent. [GOV.UK]
Worked examples
| The role | Likely direction (confirm) |
|---|---|
| Domiciliary carer providing personal care in people’s homes | Regulated activity → Enhanced + Adults’ Barred List |
| Care-home care assistant (washing, dressing, toileting) | Regulated activity → Enhanced + Adults’ Barred List |
| Activities coordinator running group sessions, no personal care | Depends on duties — may be Enhanced without a barred-list check, or lower. Confirm. |
| Cleaner in a care home with the opportunity for contact with residents | Enhanced without a barred-list check if frequent, otherwise Standard; Basic if no contact. Confirm. |
| Maintenance worker in a care home with resident contact | Standard, or Enhanced without a barred-list check if frequent; Basic if no contact. Confirm. |
| Office/admin worker with no contact with residents | Basic (a Standard or Enhanced-without-barred check may apply if the role involves contact in the home). Confirm. |
A note on “regulated activity” and CQC
One common source of confusion is that the Care Quality Commission’s “regulated activities” (a registration concept for care providers) are not the same as DBS “regulated activity” (which decides whether a barred-list check is available). A role’s DBS level is set by the DBS eligibility rules above — the activity provided to the adult — not by whether the provider is CQC-registered. [GOV.UK] [GOV.UK]
Not sure which level applies?
Our free DBS eligibility guidance checker walks you through the official criteria and points you to the guidance to confirm against. It is guidance, not a legal determination.
Open the DBS eligibility checker →Where Complys fits
Complys does not carry out DBS checks. For care providers it helps keep the safer-recruitment evidence in order against each worker record — the record that a check was done, its level and date, and review reminders. Keep this within the official handling rules: see DBS record keeping & compliance, and the Complys for care edition.
FAQs
Does every care worker need an Enhanced DBS with the barred list?
No. A care worker who provides personal care, health care, social work, financial assistance or conveying to adults who need it is in regulated activity with adults and is eligible for an Enhanced check with the Adults' Barred List. A role in a care setting that does not involve any of those activities — for example some catering, cleaning, maintenance or admin roles — may only be eligible for a lower level. Assess the actual duties, not the setting.
Does the 1 September 2026 change affect care workers?
No. That change removed the supervision exemption from regulated activity with children only. Regulated activity with adults is defined separately and was not changed — and adults have never had a supervision exemption or a frequency threshold.
Related DBS guides
- Enhanced with barred list & regulated activityWhen a role needs an Enhanced DBS check with a children's or adults' barred-list check, what regulated activity means for each, and the 1 September 2026 change to regulated activity with children.
- Which DBS check do I need?Basic, Standard, Enhanced or Enhanced with a barred-list check? Eligibility depends on the role's actual duties, setting and regulated-activity status — not the job title. A UK employer guide.
- DBS eligibility guidance checkerA free guided tool that helps UK employers work out which official DBS eligibility guidance to review for a role. Guidance only — it does not make a legal eligibility determination.
Official sources and further guidance
- DBS checks for adult social care roles — GOV.UK / Disclosure and Barring Service
- Regulated activity with adults in England and Wales (DBS guidance leaflet) — GOV.UK / Disclosure and Barring Service
- Eligibility for an Enhanced with Adults' Barred List DBS check — GOV.UK / Disclosure and Barring Service
- Eligibility for roles working with adults — GOV.UK / Disclosure and Barring Service
- DBS eligibility guidance — GOV.UK / Disclosure and Barring Service
This guidance is maintained by the Complys team and reviewed against the primary DBS / GOV.UK sources listed above (last reviewed 24 September 2026). It is general information, not legal advice, and DBS rules can change — always confirm against the official sources.