Regulated Activity and DBS Checks for Volunteers (from 1st September 2026)
From 1st September 2026, the Crime and Policing Act 2026 removes the supervision exemption from the definition of regulated activity. Previously, a volunteer supervised by a member of staff in regulated activity fell outside that definition, regardless of how often they were present. From 1 September, that exemption no longer applies.
Volunteers who teach, train, instruct, care for, or supervise children on more than 3 days in any 30-day period, or take part in any overnight stay between 2am and 6am, are now in regulated activity. Schools must ensure these volunteers have an enhanced DBS check that includes children's barred list information.
This matters because the barred list is not a criminal record. A person can be barred following an employer referral or a court referral, without ever being convicted. An acquittal does not prevent a barring decision either. A volunteer with a completely clean enhanced DBS check could still be on the barred list, and until now, schools had no legal entitlement to find out.
The check cannot be requested before 1 September itself, since regulated activity status only changes on that date. Audit your volunteers now, so applications can go in immediately once the entitlement exists.
What schools need to do now
- Identify every volunteer who teaches, trains, instructs, cares for, or supervises children, and work out whether they meet the threshold once their time across all settings is counted, not just at your school.
- Days spent volunteering elsewhere, at a sports club, a faith setting, or any other organisation involving children, count towards the same 30-day total. A single overnight stay with children brings a volunteer into regulated activity immediately, regardless of how few other days they volunteer.
- Check what each volunteer currently holds: an enhanced DBS without barred list information does not meet the new requirement, and many volunteers may currently hold no check at all.
- You cannot request the barred list check before 1 September itself, so use the time now to identify who will need one and have the paperwork ready, so applications can go in the moment the entitlement exists.
- The headteacher or DSL should review and sign off the completed list before any new applications are submitted.
You can find the guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-or-volunteering-in-regulated-activity-with-children/regulated-activity-removal-of-the-supervision-exemption-comes-into-force-1-september-2026
The free checklist is right for you if:
- You have a small number of volunteers
- You're happy to work through the assessment yourself, one volunteer at a time
- You don't need a formal, dated record beyond your own notes
- You're confident you won't need to revisit this once it's done
The audit tracker is right for you if:
- You have volunteers across multiple roles, clubs, or settings
- You want each volunteer assessed automatically against the legal test
- You want a dated, evidenced record you can produce if ever asked how this was handled
- You'd rather the tool catch the tricky cases automatically
