AccessNI Check Explained: Levels, Fees and Eligibility

Northern Ireland does not use the Disclosure and Barring Service. Its criminal record checks are run by AccessNI, part of the Department of Justice, through three levels: Basic, Standard, and Enhanced. Which one you can get, and what it costs, depends on the role and who is asking.

What AccessNI is

AccessNI is the criminal record disclosure service for Northern Ireland, run within the Department of Justice. It is a separate organisation from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), which covers England and Wales, and from Disclosure Scotland, which covers Scotland. A certificate issued by one of these three bodies is not interchangeable with the others; an employer or organisation operating across the UK still needs the Northern Ireland-specific AccessNI check for a role based in Northern Ireland. See the DBS check and Disclosure Scotland and PVG pages for how those two systems work, and the which check do I need guide for a plain comparison across all three nations.

The three levels of AccessNI check

AccessNI issues three levels of certificate, each disclosing progressively more information and each gated to a different set of applicants.

Basic check. Shows unspent convictions only, or confirms that none are held. Anyone aged 16 or over can apply for their own Basic check, whatever the reason for wanting one.

Standard check. Shows both spent and unspent convictions, plus informed warnings and other non-court disposals recorded against the applicant. A Standard check is only available where the position applied for is listed as exempt under the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exceptions) (NI) Order 1979. An individual cannot apply for one directly; the application must be submitted and countersigned by an AccessNI registered body, typically the employer or organisation.

Enhanced check. Includes everything a Standard check shows, plus any relevant information held by the police and, where the role involves regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults, a check against the relevant barred list. Like a Standard check, an Enhanced check must go through a registered body and cannot be self-applied for.

Levels and fees at a glance

Fees are paid per application. Genuine volunteers are treated differently, covered below.

Who can actually get a Standard or Enhanced check

The Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exceptions) (NI) Order 1979 lists the specific roles and professions where an employer is legally allowed to ask about spent convictions and request a Standard check, for example certain roles in healthcare, education, or other regulated professions. If a role is not on the exceptions list, the employer has no legal basis to request anything beyond a Basic check, and it is not something an applicant can request on the employer's behalf. An Enhanced check follows the same exemption logic, reserved for regulated activity involving children or vulnerable adults. See spent convictions in Northern Ireland for how rehabilitation periods work outside an exempt role.

Free checks for volunteers

Standard and Enhanced AccessNI checks are free of charge for people volunteering, unpaid, for a non-profit organisation. This waiver applies to Standard and Enhanced checks. Whether the same free-of-charge treatment extends to Basic checks for volunteers is not stated in AccessNI's published guidance, so do not assume that it does. A registered body handling a volunteer's application can confirm which fee applies before submitting it.

What filtering removes from a certificate

Not every spent conviction stays on a Standard or Enhanced certificate forever. A conviction is filtered out, meaning it is no longer disclosed, once it has been free of any further conviction for 11 years (5.5 years if the person was under 18 at the date of conviction), provided it is not a specified or safeguarding-related offence and did not result in a custodial sentence. Specified offences, broadly serious violent, sexual, and safeguarding-related offences, and any conviction that carried a custodial sentence are never filtered, regardless of how much time has passed. Filtering operates alongside the general rehabilitation-period rules in the Rehabilitation of Offenders (NI) Order 1978, which separately determine when a conviction becomes spent for most non-exempt purposes.

How to apply

A Basic check can be applied for directly, online or otherwise, by an individual acting on their own behalf. A Standard or Enhanced check cannot be self-initiated: the applicant needs an employer, voluntary organisation, or other body registered with AccessNI to submit the application and countersign it before it can be processed. Processing times vary by level and are published and updated by AccessNI, so check current turnaround times before relying on a certificate arriving by a specific date.

Northern Ireland is not England, Wales, or Scotland

An AccessNI certificate only covers Northern Ireland's records and processes. It is not the same product as a DBS check, used in England and Wales, or a Disclosure Scotland Level 1 or Level 2 disclosure combined with PVG scheme membership, used in Scotland, and none of the three is a substitute for either of the others. An organisation recruiting across more than one UK nation for a role that touches Northern Ireland needs the Northern Ireland-specific AccessNI check for that role, not a check from wherever its head office happens to sit. Compare all three directly on the which criminal record check do you need guide.

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. AccessNI eligibility depends on the specific role in question, so anyone unsure whether a Standard or Enhanced check applies to them should check with the registered body handling the application, or with AccessNI directly, rather than relying on this page alone. For the wider picture of UK data protection and criminal record disclosure, see the UK Data Privacy hub and the United Kingdom hub.