Check if your conviction or caution is spent

Use this tool to check if a conviction or caution is still on your basic criminal record (known as ‘unspent’). The check includes driving offences and military convictions. You can read more about what an unspent conviction or caution is . Check now Before you check For each conviction or caution you’ve had, you’ll need: the type of conviction or caution you got the date you got it the date any conditions ended, or how long your sentence was If you give approximate dates, the result you get will be approximate. You will not need to give personal details such as your name. The information you give will not be saved and cannot identify you.

A caution is an official warning from the police . It could be a: simple caution if you’re 18 or over youth caution if you’re under 18 conditional caution Whether a caution is ‘spent’ affects what information you need to give a potential employer, university or college. When simple and youth cautions become spent They become spent straight away. When a conditional caution becomes spent It becomes spent either: on the date the conditions end 3 months after you got it, if the conditions have no end date

Fines and compensation

A court might order you to pay: a fine compensation to someone (‘compensation order’) Whether a fine or compensation order is ‘spent’ affects what information you need to give a potential employer, university or college. When a fine becomes spent A fine becomes spent: one year after you got it, if you were 18 or over 6 months after you got it, if you were under 18 There are different rules if a court gives you a fine for a driving offence . When a compensation order becomes spent A compensation order becomes spent after you’ve paid someone in full and sent proof of payment to DBS.

A court might give you a conviction for a driving offence, for example speeding or drink driving. The conviction could be: a fine a driving ban (‘disqualification’) community service or a prison sentence Fixed penalty notices (FPN) and penalty charge notices (PCN) are fines for minor driving offences. They will not appear on your criminal record unless a court gives you a conviction because of one. Whether a driving conviction is ‘spent’ affects what information you need to give a potential employer, university or college. ‘Endorsements’ (penalty points) A court will give a driving ban or fine with penalty points that appear on your driving record. This is known as an ‘endorsement’. An endorsement can stay on your driving record for longer than your criminal record. This means a potential employer, university or college might find out about a driving ban or fine after it’s spent, if they request to check your driving record . When a fine with an endorsement becomes spent The fine becomes spent either: 5 years after you got it, if you were 18 or over 2 years and 6 months after you got it, if you were under 18 When a driving ban with an endorsement becomes spent When a driving ban becomes spent depends on how: long the ban lasts old you were when you got it If you were 18 or over If the ban lasts less than 5 years, it becomes spent 5 years after you got it. If the ban lasts more than 5 years, it becomes spent on the date it ends. If you were under 18 If the ban lasts less than 2 years and 6 months, it becomes spent 2 years and 6 months after you got it. If the ban lasts more than 2 years and 6 months, it becomes spent on the date it ends.

A court might: give you a prison sentence if you’re 18 or over give you a detention order (‘detention and training order’) if you’re under 18 order you to stay in hospital instead of prison (‘hospital order’) if there are concerns about your mental health A court can decide to delay a prison sentence for up to 2 years as long as you meet certain conditions. This is known as ‘suspended’. Whether a sentence is ‘spent’ affects what information you need to give a potential employer, university or college. When a prison sentence becomes spent When your prison sentence becomes spent depends on the: length of your prison sentence type of offence you committed, if your prison sentence is longer than 4 years Length of your sentence When it becomes spent Less than 12 months 12 months after the sentence ends 12 months to 4 years 4 years after the sentence ends Longer than 4 years 7 years after the sentence ends (unless you were convicted of a serious violent, sexual, or terrorist offence) If you were convicted of a serious violent, sexual, or terrorist offence Your sentence is never spent if it was for longer than 4 years. If your prison sentence was ‘suspended’ or you were released early The full length of the prison sentence affects when it becomes spent - not the amount of the time it was suspended for or how long you were in prison. Example A court gave you a 3 year prison sentence on 5 May 2021. You were released early (‘on parole’) on 5 May 2023. Your sentence ends on 5 May 2024 and becomes spent on 5 May 2028. When a detention order becomes spent When your sentence becomes spent depends on the: length of your detention sentence type of offence you committed, if your detention sentence is longer than 4 years Length of your sentence When it becomes spent Less than 12 months 6 months after the sentence ends 12 months to 4 years 2 years after the sentence ends Longer than 4 years 3 years 6 months after the sentence ends (unless you were convicted of a serious violent, sexual, or terrorist offence) If you were convicted of a serious violent, sexual, or terrorist offence Your detention sentence will never become spent if it was for longer than 4 years. When a hospital order becomes spent A hospital order becomes spent either: on the date it ends 2 years after you got it, if there’s no end date.

A court might give you: community service (‘community order’) if you’re 18 or over a youth order (‘youth rehabilitation order’) or a referral order if you’re under 18 For example unpaid work, a curfew or alcohol treatment. Whether a community, youth or referral order is ‘spent’ affects what information you need to give a potential employer, university or college. When community service becomes spent Community service becomes spent either: on the date it ends 2 years after you got it, if there’s no end date When a youth order becomes spent A youth order becomes spent either: on the date it ends 2 years after you got it, if there’s no end date When a referral order becomes spent A referral order becomes spent on its end date.

A discharge is a type of conviction where a court finds you guilty but does not give you a sentence because the offence is very minor. The conviction could be: an absolute discharge a conditional discharge, where you could still get a sentence if you break the conditions a ‘bind over’, where you could get a fine if you break the conditions Whether a discharge or bind over is ‘spent’ affects what information you need to give a potential employer, university or college. When an absolute discharge becomes spent It becomes spent straight away. When conditional discharges and bind overs become spent They become spent either: on the date they end 2 years after you got one, if there’s no end date

A court might give you a military conviction if they find you guilty of a crime while you served in the British armed forces. The conviction might be: a dismissal a service detention an overseas community order a service community order Whether a military conviction is ‘spent’ affects what information you need to give a potential employer, university or college. When military convictions become spent How long it takes for a conviction to become spent depends on how old you were when you were convicted. If you were: 18 or over it takes 12 months under 18 it takes 6 months The length of time is calculated from: the date of your conviction for dismissals the day on which the sentence is complete for service detentions the end date for overseas and community service orders - if the order has no end date, it becomes spent after 2 years If you were given both a dismissal and a service detention then the longer of the two spent dates applies.

Check if you need to tell someone about your criminal record

When you need to tell someone about your criminal record

You might need to tell an organisation about your criminal record when applying for:

a job
a university or college course
insurance
housing

If you have a conviction from a court or a caution from the police, whether you need to tell the organisation depends on:

if they ask, for example in an interview or on an application form
when you got it
what type of punishment or sentence you got
the type of criminal record check they might request

There are different rules in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Check what information you need to give about your criminal record.

View a printable version of the whole guide

Check if you need to tell someone about your criminal record

When you need to tell someone about your criminal record

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Check if you need to tell someone about your criminal record

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