Why has my candidate been issued a manual certificate from the DBS?

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This article advises what a manual certificate is and why it is issued from the DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) to your candidate.

Please note from the end of October 2023 the DBS will no longer be issuing manual certificates in this way.

A manual certificate contains exactly the same information as a normal certificate does for Standard or Enhanced DBS checks. The only difference is that a manual certificate is issued when the DBS cannot create an electronic result and certificate for the candidate, meaning they manually create the certificate.

On the Verifile Client Portal, the online application will show as withdrawn because the DBS cannot issue the electronic result.

Verifile will receive confirmation from the DBS to advise that they have sent the manual certificate directly to the candidate. We will then close the check on our system with the check status “Completed - Amber - Manual certificate issued”.

Please note, the DBS can issue applicants with manual certificates for several reasons, usually when the data held on the Police National Computer (PNC) is in a particular format and the DBS system cannot extract it correctly.

More recently, since a change to the filtering rules, the DBS must filter certain convictions that they previously weren’t required to. Their current systems don’t allow them to do this automatically, so they produce a manual certificate.

You can find more information about filtering on the DBS website: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-filtering-rules.

Please note that the format of the certificate number changes because the electronic version certificate is withdrawn, and they create a new manual certificate that cannot be linked online. 

The applicant cannot join the Update Service with a manual certificate.

RELATED CONTENT

Manual DBS certificates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Why can't my candidate use a manual certificate on the Update Service?

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