How long does a caution stay on your DBS?
By Matt Elkins, Solicitor Advocate and Director of Legisia Legal Services – published in the Criminal Law Review and author of the Westlaw UK Insight on Police Cautions.
Last updated: July 2026
If you have a police caution and you are wondering how long does it stay on your DBS, you can use our police caution calculator below.
Our police caution calculator has been created by an expert DBS solicitor and is up to date with the current DBS disclosure rules.
You may have looked elsewhere online and seen a confusing amount of contradictory, or incomplete, information about how long a police caution will stay on your DBS certificate.
Our calculator will tell you the correct rules that apply to your circumstances whether you have a youth or adult caution, or whether it is conditional or simple.
The calculator will provide you the rules related to each level of DBS certificate, and also details the rules related to ACRO police certificates (which are used for overseas travel/immigration).
If you don’t want to use the police caution calculator, you can read our article about how long a police caution stays on your record. You can see our article here: Can you appeal a DBS check?
Remember: however long your caution will show on a DBS certificate, it stays on the Police National Computer until your 100th birthday unless it is deleted. If the calculator result is causing you a problem, deletion through the Record Deletion Process removes the caution from every future check – see our police caution removal service.
Caution Calculator: Frequently Asked Questions
Is a caution a criminal record?
A caution is not a conviction, but it does form part of your criminal record. It is recorded on the Police National Computer and can appear on Standard and Enhanced DBS certificates and on an ACRO Police Certificate.
What is DBS filtering?
Filtering is the process by which older cautions stop being disclosed on Standard and Enhanced DBS certificates. An adult simple caution is normally filtered six years after it was issued, unless it is for a specified offence, in which case it is never filtered. Filtering hides the caution from DBS certificates but does not remove it from police records.
Will a caution stop me getting a job?
It depends on the role and the type of check. Most jobs only require a Basic DBS check, where a simple caution is spent immediately. Regulated roles requiring Standard or Enhanced checks will see an unfiltered caution, and employers in those sectors can take it into account.
The calculator says my caution will show for years. Can I do anything about it?
Yes. Whatever the calculator shows, a caution can potentially be deleted from the Police National Computer through the Record Deletion Process. If the caution is deleted, it cannot appear on any future DBS certificate or Police Certificate. We offer fixed-fee advice on the prospects of an application in your case.
Police Caution Removal Solicitor
We have extensive experience in applying for the deletion of police cautions in relation to many different police forces.
Please see here some of successful cases: Police Caution Removal Example Cases.
Also see here the reviews from our satisfied customers: Police Caution Removal Reviews.
In most cases we offer fixed fees, unfortunately we do not offer legal aid.
Please get in touch to arrange an initial consultation