Police Checks and DBS Clearance
For Entry to Year 1
- Medical students are required to obtain a certificate of enhanced disclosure from the UK Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) on entry to the Medical School.
- International students who have never previously resided in the UK will instead be required to provide a police report from their home country. Submission of this report by a specified deadline will form a condition of their offer.
- Students must declare any cautions, reprimands or convictions subsequently incurred while studying at UCL Medical School.
- All students must make a declaration of their DBS status prior to entering Year 4.
- Failure to disclose is a fitness to practise issue.
Process for UK Students
Students who have lived in the UK since the age of 13 will be required to be checked through the DBS. This will include all UK students as well as some EU/international students who have lived in the UK (for example to attend a boarding school). Students may have previously had DBS checks (for example for work experience placements) but a new check specifically for entry to the Medical School is required.
Students who firmly accept our offer of a place will be provided with detailed information about this process. They will be required to supply documentation needed to complete a DBS application form.
The DBS clearance procedure must be completed by 31 October in Year 1. The disclosure certificate will be received directly by the student.
The Medical School will ask students to present their DBS disclosure certificate during Year 1, usually by emailing a scan of the document. It is important to respond to this request immediately, since clinical placements during Year 1 cannot be attended by students who fail to comply with DBS-clearance procedure.
The certificate will be needed in future years for clinical attachments at NHS Trusts, for voluntary or other work placements and for electives applications. It is therefore imperative that students carefully retain their certificates, as the DBS do not issue replacements for lost certificates and the Medical School does not have copies.
Process for EU/International Students
Students who have not lived in the UK prior to enrolment will be required to obtain a police report or criminal record check (in some countries this is called a Certificate of Good Conduct) from any country in which they have lived since the age of 13.
If the report is not in English then it must be accompanied by an official translation into English. Submission of these documents by a deadline will form a condition of the offer made to EU/international students.
EU/international students who are unsure how to obtain a police report are advised to contact their local police station for guidance. If no longer residing in the relevant country, the nearest Embassy of that country may be able to advise on the procedure. We recommend commencing the procedure as early as possible, as it can take some time.
Fitness to Practice
Upon entering the Medical School all students are required to sign a code of conduct known as the ‘Entry Agreement’. As part of this agreement, students are asked to be aware that they must declare any caution or conviction incurred during their studies and that failure to declare would breach this code of conduct and constitute a serious fitness to practise issue.
Further Reading
More detailed information regarding Fitness to Practise can be found in the A-Z of UCL Medical School Policies and Regulations.
Further information regarding UK police checks can be found on the DBS website.
