What Is a Police Caution and Will It Show on a DBS Check?

Reviewed 30 October 2026 · England and Wales · General information, not legal advice

A police caution is a formal warning for an offence you admit, given instead of prosecution. It is not a conviction, but it is recorded on the Police National Computer and can appear on standard and enhanced DBS checks for six years.

A police caution is a formal warning given by the police in England and Wales to an adult who admits a criminal offence, used instead of prosecution for less serious, usually first-time, offending. It is not a conviction, but it is recorded on the Police National Computer, forms part of your criminal record and can be disclosed on standard and enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, normally for six years for an adult; a basic DBS check never shows a simple caution. This guide explains the difference between simple and conditional cautions, when the police can offer one, how quickly a caution becomes spent, what appears on each type of DBS check, the effect on travel and work, whether to accept one, and how to challenge a caution you believe was wrongly given.

What a police caution is

A simple caution is a formal warning recorded against your name. You sign a form confirming that you admit the offence, understand the consequences and agree to be cautioned, and that is the end of the matter: no court, no sentence, no fine. Simple cautions are governed by Ministry of Justice guidance and by the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015.

A conditional caution, under Part 3 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, attaches conditions that you must meet within a set period. Conditions can be rehabilitative (attending a course), reparative (apologising or paying compensation) or punitive (a financial penalty). If you breach a condition without reasonable excuse the caution lapses and you can be prosecuted for the original offence.

Neither should be confused with a community resolution, an informal disposal for low-level offending agreed with the victim, which is not a caution and does not form part of your criminal record in the same way, although it is kept on local police systems and can occasionally be disclosed on an enhanced DBS check. Fixed penalty notices are different again and involve no admission.

The law is due to change, but has not yet. Sections 98 to 116 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 would replace the current system with a two-tier framework of diversionary cautions and community cautions. As at 30 October 2026 those provisions have been enacted but not brought into force, no commencement date has been announced, and the police continue to use simple and conditional cautions. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own out-of-court disposals.

When the police can offer a caution

Three conditions must be met. There must be enough evidence to give a realistic prospect of conviction if you were charged; you must make a clear and reliable admission of the offence; and you must agree to accept the caution, understanding what it means. Without an admission there can be no caution, and you cannot be forced to accept one. If you decline, the police or the Crown Prosecution Service decide whether to charge you, and in weak cases the answer is often no further action.

Section 17 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 restricts their use. A simple caution cannot normally be given for an indictable-only offence such as robbery; for certain serious either-way offences it needs exceptional circumstances and a senior officer's approval; and it should not be given where you were convicted of or cautioned for a similar offence in the previous two years unless there are exceptional circumstances. Conditional cautions for more serious matters are authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Anyone under 18 is dealt with separately through youth cautions and youth conditional cautions under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, normally with an appropriate adult present and with the involvement of the local youth offending team. The victim's views are considered but do not decide the outcome. For how an arrest and interview work before any caution is offered, see the guide to your rights at the police station.

Is a caution a criminal record, and when is it spent

A caution is not a conviction: you have not been found guilty by a court and you can truthfully say you have never been convicted. It is, however, a criminal record. It is entered on the Police National Computer, your fingerprints and DNA are kept, and it can be cited in later proceedings, for example as evidence of bad character or when a court sentences you for a later offence, and the police are far less likely to caution you a second time.

Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 a simple caution becomes spent immediately, and a conditional caution becomes spent three months after it is given, or sooner if it stops having effect. Once spent, you do not have to disclose it when applying for most jobs, insurance or housing, and the Act makes a spent caution an improper ground for refusing you a job or dismissing you. The exceptions are the roles listed in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, such as work with children or vulnerable adults, healthcare, law, financial services and some security work, where an employer can ask about spent cautions and you must answer honestly, subject to the DBS filtering rules below.

One further consequence catches people out: a caution for an offence listed in Schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 makes you subject to the notification requirements, often called the sex offenders register, for two years.

Will a caution show on a DBS check

There are three levels of DBS certificate, and the answer depends on which one:

• A basic check, which anyone can apply for and many employers request, shows only unspent convictions and unspent conditional cautions. A simple caution never appears because it is spent at once; a conditional caution appears only during its first three months.
• A standard check shows spent and unspent convictions and cautions, subject to filtering.
• An enhanced check shows the same plus any other information the local police force considers relevant to the role and, where the job is eligible, whether you are on a barred list.

The filtering rules, last changed on 28 November 2020 and 28 October 2023, decide what drops off standard and enhanced certificates. An adult caution is filtered six years after the date it was given unless the offence is on the DBS list of specified offences, mainly serious violent, sexual and safeguarding offences, which are never filtered. Adult convictions are filtered after eleven years provided they did not lead to a custodial or suspended sentence and are not specified offences. Youth cautions, reprimands and warnings are never disclosed on any certificate. Unspent conditional cautions are always disclosed. Only employers recruiting for roles covered by the Exceptions Order can lawfully ask for a standard or enhanced check, so for most jobs a simple caution will never be seen.

On an enhanced check the police can, in principle, include a filtered caution as "other relevant information" if they consider it relevant and proportionate to the job, though this is unusual. If you believe information on a certificate is wrong or should not be there, you can ask the DBS to review it before it reaches the employer.

Travel, visas and work

Most countries ask nothing about cautions at the border, but some ask about criminal history on visa and travel authorisation forms, and "spent" is a concept of UK law that does not bind a foreign government. The United States is the usual problem: GOV.UK notes that you may not be eligible to travel under the visa waiver programme (ESTA) if you have been arrested, even without a conviction, or have a criminal record, in which case you must apply for a visa. Read the current ESTA question carefully and answer it truthfully, because a false answer can lead to a permanent ban. Canada, Australia and New Zealand have their own questions. Where a visa application needs a police certificate, the ACRO Criminal Records Office issues one on which cautions may appear under its own disclosure rules.

At work, an employer that learns of a spent caution you were not obliged to disclose cannot lawfully rely on it unless the role is exempt, and dismissing you for it could support an unfair dismissal claim; the guide to employment law solicitors explains how such claims work. Professional regulators in nursing, teaching, law and finance often require disclosure of all cautions, spent or not, and taxi and security licensing authorities take a similar line. Motoring offences are rarely cautioned; see speeding fines and penalty points for how they are dealt with.

Should you accept a caution

Accepting a caution ends the matter quickly and privately, avoids a court appearance and removes the risk of a conviction with a heavier sentence. Against that, it is an admission of guilt that stays on police systems, can appear on standard and enhanced checks for six years, affects some jobs and travel, and can be used against you if anything happens later.

Never accept a caution for something you did not do, or where you have a defence, simply to get out of the police station. Never accept one without legal advice, which is free for everyone in police custody or attending a voluntary interview: a criminal defence solicitor can read the evidence, test whether the conditions for a caution are met, and sometimes negotiate a community resolution or no further action instead. Ask what offence the caution would be for and whether it is a specified offence that would never be filtered, and for a conditional caution make sure you can meet the conditions. Officers must not use threats of charge or prison to secure an admission, and a caution obtained that way can be challenged.

Challenging a caution or asking for deletion

There are three routes. The first is a complaint to the police force's professional standards department if the procedure was not followed: no clear admission, no explanation of the consequences, no appropriate adult for a child or vulnerable adult, or no offer of legal advice. The second is judicial review in the High Court, which must be started promptly and in any event within three months, where the caution was unlawful because, for example, the admission was equivocal or the evidence could never have supported a charge. The third is an application under the national record deletion process, administered by ACRO on behalf of chief officers, for early deletion of the caution and the associated arrest record from the Police National Computer; grounds include that no offence was committed, that the allegation was malicious or false, that the caution was wrongly administered, or the wider public interest. Deletion is discretionary and needs evidence.

A solicitor will usually quote a fixed fee for a deletion application or complaint and hourly rates for judicial review, for which legal aid is sometimes available subject to means. For a first conversation search criminal law solicitors in Sheffield, look at criminal solicitors in Newcastle upon Tyne or use the solicitors near me search, and see can I get legal help for free for the funding options. The overview of criminal law explains how cautions fit alongside charges and court.

Frequently asked questions

Is a police caution a criminal conviction?

No. A conviction is a finding of guilt by a court; a caution is an out-of-court disposal that you accept by admitting the offence, so you can honestly say you have never been convicted. It is still a criminal record: it sits on the Police National Computer, can be referred to in any later case, and appears on standard and enhanced DBS checks until it is filtered. If a form asks about cautions as well as convictions, and the role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, you must declare it.

How long does a caution stay on your record?

The police record itself is kept indefinitely, in practice until your hundredth birthday, unless you succeed in having it deleted. For most purposes what matters is disclosure: a simple caution is spent immediately and a conditional caution after three months, and an adult caution stops appearing on standard and enhanced DBS checks six years after it was given unless the offence is on the specified list, in which case it is disclosed for life. Youth cautions are never disclosed on DBS certificates.

Can I refuse a police caution?

Yes. A caution is only valid if you admit the offence and agree to it, and nobody can be forced to accept one. If you refuse, the police or the Crown Prosecution Service must decide whether the evidence and the public interest justify charging you, and in borderline cases they often take no further action. Refusing carries the risk of prosecution and a conviction, so the decision should be made with the free legal advice available at the police station, not under pressure in the custody suite.

Do I have to declare a caution on a job application?

For most jobs, no. A simple caution is spent immediately and a conditional caution after three months, and once spent you can answer "no" to a question about convictions or cautions without lying. The exceptions are roles covered by the Exceptions Order, such as work with children or vulnerable adults, healthcare, law and financial services, where employers can ask about spent cautions and run a standard or enhanced DBS check; there you must disclose any caution that has not been filtered. Some professional regulators require disclosure regardless.

Can I travel to the USA with a police caution?

Possibly, but check before you book. The ESTA visa waiver form asks about arrests and convictions for certain offences, and GOV.UK warns that an arrest alone, even without a conviction, can make you ineligible so that you need a visa instead. A caution follows an arrest or voluntary interview and an admission, so read the current question carefully and answer it truthfully; a false declaration can result in a permanent ban. Applying for a visa takes time and may involve an interview.

What is the difference between a caution and a community resolution?

A community resolution is an informal way of dealing with minor offending, usually with the victim's agreement, that might involve an apology, repairing damage or paying for it. It is not a caution, is not recorded on the Police National Computer as a criminal record and does not need to be disclosed as one, although the police keep a local record that can occasionally appear on an enhanced DBS check. A caution is a formal disposal that requires an admission and forms part of your criminal record.

Related guides

• Arrested? Your Rights at the Police Station Explained
• Speeding Fines, Penalty Points and Totting Up Explained
• What Is Criminal Law?
• Can I get legal help for free?

This guide describes the law in England and Wales as at 30 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice about your situation; the law and the figures it quotes change, so check the position with a solicitor before acting. LawFirms.co.uk is a directory and does not provide legal services.