Check if you need to tell someone about your criminal record
Community service
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.