For those 18 or over at the time of the offence:

An adult conviction will be removed from a DBS certificate if:

11 years have elapsed since the date of conviction; and

it is the person’s only offence, and

it did not result in a custodial sentence

Even then, it will only be removed if it does not appear on the list of offences which will never be removed from a certificate. If a person has more than one offence, then details of all their convictions will always be included.

An adult caution will be removed after 6 years have elapsed since the date of the caution – and if it does not appear on the list of offences relevant to safeguarding.

For those under 18 at the time of the offence:

The same rules apply as for adult convictions, except that the elapsed time period is 5.5 years

The same rules apply as for adult cautions, except that the elapsed time period is 2 years.