Disclosure of criminal convictions

Relevant criminal offences include convictions, cautions, admonitions, reprimands, final warnings, bind over orders or similar involving 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;
• Offences listed in the Sexual Offences Act (2003);
• The unlawful supply of controlled drugs or substances where the conviction concerns commercial drug dealing or trafficking.
• Offences involving firearms;
• Offences involving arson;
• Offences involving terrorism.

Warning, penalty notices for disorder (PNDs), anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) or violent offender orders (VOOs) are not classed as convictions for the purpose of this section, unless you have contested a PND or breached the terms of an ASBO or VOO and this has resulted in a criminal conviction.

A criminal conviction can become ‘spent’ after a period of time. The length of time it takes for a conviction to become spent is defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974), and this varies, depending on the offender’s age at conviction, and the sentence or disposal made by the court following the conviction.

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 aims to help people who have been convicted of certain criminal offences and have not re-offended since being convicted. If the person does not re-offend during their rehabilitation period their conviction becomes ‘spent’.

Certain professions or occupations are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, therefore for this purpose convictions would be considered unspent. These include (but are not limited to): teaching, healthcare, law, accountancy, social work and courses involving work with children or vulnerable adults, including the elderly or sick people.

Custodial sentences of over four years cannot become spent.

More information on offences and rehabilitation periods can be found at  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-guidance-on-the-rehabilitation-of-offenders-act-1974

If your conviction involved an offence similar to those set out above, but was made by a court outside the United Kingdom, this is also considered a relevant offence.

Certain courses that involve interacting with children or vulnerable adults in regulated activities; and/or require a criminal records check via the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) (or local equivalent) are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974).  For these courses, the University requires disclosure of all convictions, including spent convictions, cautions and bind-over orders. List of courses that require a DBS check [hyperlink]

For such courses, we ask about criminal convictions for the following reasons:

1. to determine your suitability to work in the professional environment associated with your course. We also need to assess whether you would be able to undertake the mandatory work placements required as part of your course;
2. to carry out appropriate risk assessments to identify, assess and manage any potential risks to the University community.

Before you start your course, you will need to complete an enhanced DBS check or equivalent process for overseas applicants. However, we ask you to self-declare at an earlier stage so that we have time to collect further information  and assess the information provided as early as possible.  If you will undertake a course that requires a DBS check, the information you provide at this stage will be used to assess your suitability to undertake your chosen course, including placements involving regulated activity and, where relevant, to enable discussion in terms of meeting ‘Fitness to Practise’ criteria, ahead of applying for a DBS Enhanced Disclosure Certificate.  If the DBS check reveals that you have had a conviction, caution, reprimand, final warning or bind over, the University will need to assess your fitness to practise in the profession to which you have applied.

Disclosure of relevant, unspent convictions will be considered by the University’s Risk Panel. For further information, refer to the University’s Risk Policy and Procedure for Applicants with Criminal Convictions.

Any disclosure is considered separately from the academic assessment of your application. You will have the opportunity to comment on our risk assessment.

Disclosure of convictions by applicants to courses that require a DBS check, will, where relevant, be considered by the University’s Risk Panel in the first instance. A Faculty panel may also be used for assessing the suitability of applicants whose Self Declaration Form contains information about offences, cautions, convictions or other matters or concerns. For further information on the current University DBS policy and procedure, please visit www.mmu.ac.uk/dbs/dbs-policy/.

The University has the right to:

• refuse enrolment at the University and/or to terminate a student’s contract where, following a risk assessment or professional suitability assessment the University’s decision is to refuse admission and study at the University
• impose conditions and/or restrictions on a student’s offer, admission, enrolment or study at the University to help manage any risks identified.

You are required to inform the University if you are convicted of a relevant offence prior to, or after enrolment. New and returning students will be asked to provide information on any relevant convictions that have not already been disclosed to the University, as part of the annual online enrolment process.

For courses that do not require a DBS check:

• Standard Criminal Conviction Self-Declaration Form

For courses that require a DBS check, please complete the appropriate form:

• Faculty of Health and Education (Nursing, Physiotherapy, Speech and Language Therapy)
• Social Work (BA/MA Social Work)
• Faculty of Health and Education – Education courses
• Faculty of Science and Engineering

For further information, or for a confidential discussion about convictions or related concerns, please contact the Head of Admissions at [email protected], or by telephone: +44 (0)161 247 1035.

The Manchester Metropolitan University (‘the University’) is the Data Controller in respect of the personal data, including any criminal conviction data you provide via this form. The University is registered as a Data Controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and manages personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the University’s Data Protection Policy.

Your personal data will be used as described under the heading ‘Why do we ask for information about criminal convictions?’ As a public authority we process this data to perform a specific task in the public interest, as such we rely upon the public task lawful basis in order to process your personal data, including criminal conviction data for these purposes.

Any criminal conviction data which you provide that is not considered relevant or is spent will be securely disposed of as soon as possible, furthermore we will seek to dispose of any relevant criminal conviction information as it becomes spent as per the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. Criminal conviction data which remains relevant and unspent will be retained until the end of the student relationship + 6 years as per the University Records Retention and Disposal Schedule.

If you wish to exercise your right of access, rectification and/or to restrict processing under the GDPR please contact the Head of Admissions at [email protected] in the first instance.

We will not share your personal data collected in this form with any third parties unless specifically obliged by law to do so. For further information about use of your personal data and your data protection rights please see the University’s Data Protection Pages on the website. Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted using the [email protected] e-mail address, by calling 0161 247 3331 or in writing to: Data Protection Officer, Legal Services, All Saints Building, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M15 6BH. You also have a right to lodge a complaint in respect of the processing of your personal data with the Information Commissioner’s Office as the supervisory authority. Please see: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/