This question requires you to disclose whether you have a criminal conviction which is deemed both relevant and unspent. Universities and colleges need this information to help them reduce the risk of harm or injury to their students and staff. Please read the following carefully to help you in answering this question. Do I need to tick the box? There are two elements to the question we ask; if you answer Yes to both these elements, you will need to tick the box.
- Is the conviction for a ‘relevant’ offence?
- Is the conviction unspent?
No decision will be made on the basis of a ticked box at this stage. This information will be held securely and shared only with those institutions that you apply to. Is the conviction for a ‘relevant’ offence? This is the first element to the question we ask. Relevant offences include one or more of the following:
- Any kind of violence including (but not limited to) threatening behaviour, offences concerning the intention to harm or offences which resulted in actual bodily harm.
- Sexual offences, including those listed in the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
- The unlawful supply of controlled drugs or substances where the conviction concerns commercial drug dealing or trafficking (drug offences only involving possession are not relevant offences).
- Offences involving firearms.
- Offences involving arson.
- Offences involving terrorism.
If you were convicted outside the United Kingdom for an offence listed above, this is also considered a relevant offence. For the purposes of this question, cautions, reprimands and final warnings are considered as convictions. Penalty notices for disorder (PNDs), anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) or other orders are not convictions, unless you have contested a PND or breached the terms of an ASBO or other order and this has resulted in a criminal conviction. If your answer is ‘No’ to this question because you don’t have a relevant conviction, then you should not tick the box. You don’t need to consider whether your conviction is unspent because it is not relevant and should not be disclosed in answer to this question. If your answer is ‘Yes’ to this question, because you have a relevant conviction, you must then go on to consider whether the conviction is unspent (see below). Is the conviction ‘unspent’? You should only consider this question if you have a relevant conviction (see above), i.e. answered ‘Yes’ to the previous question. A criminal conviction can become ‘spent’ after a period of time. The length of time it takes to become spent is defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and depends on the sentence or disposal made by the court following the conviction. Until that period has passed, the conviction is considered ‘unspent’ and you must tick the box. Further convictions can impact when other convictions become spent. Sentences of over four years in prison cannot become spent. Most cautions, reprimands and final warnings become spent immediately, so will not normally be ‘unspent’. For more information on offences and rehabilitation periods, visit
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/286421/rehabilitation-of-offenders-guidance.pdf You can work out whether your conviction is spent by using an online tool – visit
disclosurecalculator.org.uk This only covers convictions made in England and Wales and is maintained by the charity, Unlock. UCAS and Unlock cannot guarantee the tool’s accuracy or completeness. Neither charity assumes responsibility or accepts liability for any damage or loss which may arise as a result of your reliance on it. If you were convicted outside the United Kingdom, you will need to follow the same process above. If your conviction would be considered unspent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, you must tick the box. Convictions that are spent do not need to be disclosed, it’s only when you have one or more unspent convictions that you must tick the box. How will the College handle my application if I tick the box? If you tick the box, you will not be automatically excluded from the application process. The information concerning criminal convictions will be passed to appointed persons at the college. In line with good admissions practice (such as that created by Supporting Professionalism in Admissions (SPA)), they will consider your criminal conviction separately from the rest of your application. During this consideration, they may ask you to provide further information about your conviction. If they are satisfied, your application will proceed in the normal way although they may add certain conditions to any offer they may make. Otherwise they will notify you of their decision. It is important to note that a failure to declare a relevant unspent criminal conviction is taken very seriously and could result in expulsion from your university or college. You should therefore seek advice before answering this question if you are unsure how to answer it. All information concerning criminal convictions will be treated sensitively, confidentially and managed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. You may find further details about how a criminal conviction declaration is handled (including the right to appeal a decision) at the university or college website. What if I receive a relevant criminal conviction after I have applied? If you are convicted of a relevant criminal offence after you have applied, you must tell us and any university or college that you have applied to, or may apply to, during the application cycle. Do not send details of the offence; simply tell us and the universities and colleges that you now have a relevant criminal conviction. The universities and colleges may then ask you for more details. When might I need to disclose a spent conviction or caution? If you apply for certain courses, you will be required to disclose whether you have any spent convictions, in addition to this question about relevant unspent convictions. If this applies, you will be asked an additional question each time you choose a relevant course. Please see the entry requirements for your course choices to see if this requirement applies to you. Please note that, in this situation, you should not declare convictions, cautions, warnings or reprimands which are deemed ‘protected’ under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). A conviction or caution can become ‘protected’ as a result of a filtering process. Guidance and criteria on the filtering of convictions and cautions can be found on the DBS website. Further information on filtering can be found at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/dbs-filtering-guidance
