Hi Amy

We take the approach that the equivalent of the DBS check should be sought from any country the candidate/employee has lived or worked as an adult.

We have successful candidates complete a declaration form as to whether they have lived/worked abroad with dates. From this we then advise if overseas checks are needed. www.gov.uk has details for each country that provides criminal checks and how to go about it. For those countries that do not provide checks, we have risk assessments in place.

This is all then recorded on the SCR like the DBS check.

Hope that helps.

Hello Amy
On our SCR template we include the column headings below
Has individual lived or worked outside of the UK? Yes/NO
EEA sanctions and restrictions check complete? Yes/No
Date checked
Checked by

You complete these checks via the Teacher Services portal (gov.uk). If they are a member of support staff, you could also ask the employee to provide written assurances from the body that they worked for abroad that there are no matters you should be aware of and or obtain a letter from the consulate.

In reply to Kimberly:

Thank you!

In reply to Lucy:

Thank you Lucy.

Can I ask one more question - do you set a time limit to your checks? e.g. if the person worked abroad 10/15/20 years ago would you still pursue the checks or are they carried out regardless?

In reply to Amy:

Ours are carried out regardless of time - we mirror requirements as if UK checks are being undertaken as we deem this to be reasonable in the safeguarding of children.

Hello Amy

Our Policy is if a successful candidate has lived or worked overseas for more than three months in the last five years, then they are required to provide us with a certificate of good conduct from the relevant country.

Those that have lived or worked outside of the UK for more than 12 months within the last 10 years, while aged 18 or over,  would also need to provide a certificate.
 
We add this wording to offer letters so candidates are well aware that this is one of the pre-employment checks. We would allow someone to start before we had received this check back if all other checks were satisfactory i.e. DBS, references, had previously worked at another school in the UK since they returned. 
 
 
 
We signpost identified candidates to the following government information webpage
www.gov.uk/.../guidance-on-the-application-process-for-criminal-records-checks-overseas

Time taken to obtain a certificate varies from country to country so there isn't a set period.

It is worth noting that It is not always possible to obtain a certificate from every country, particularly those that do not have functioning criminal record regimes or refuse to provide these to anyone other than their own citizens. Other checks should be carried out in this case.

If the candidate went backpacking round the world or similar, meaning they were overseas for 3 months or more in the last 5 years, but they didn’t stay in one place for 3 months because they were travelling, they would need to show us the stamps in their passport or copies of their travel tickets

The most important thing is capturing the information and entering on the SCR for compliance. Have they lived or worked abroad, Y or N? etc. As long as you can show you have identified whether there is the need for the check and have done everything you can reasonably do (request a certificate for those that meet the criteria and chase), all ok.

Hi Amy,
We take the view that any period of 3 months+ spent in another country as an adult (including country of origin, even if the person wasn't working there but was aged over 18) should result in a check. The Vahey serious case review is the basis for our approach here, and helped us to frame our thinking on it - I think everyone working in HR in schools should read it, even though it's a very challenging read.
Good luck with your new role.
Nina