As a result of Government legislation all Higher Education Institutions, who offer courses where students may come into regular, unsupervised contact with children or vulnerable adults, are required to ensure that these students obtain an Enhanced Disclosure via the Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure process. An Enhanced Disclosure is an official document issued by the Criminal Records Bureau providing details of a person's conviction record, including cautions, reprimands and warnings held on the Police National Computer. This level of Disclosure involves an additional level of check to other Disclosures carried out by the CRB (Standard and Basic), including the check on local police records.

For further information please see the Applicant's Guide to the CRB's Disclosure Service: http://www.direct.gov.uk/crb

Please see the e-guide on the CRB website for further details: http://www.direct.gov.uk/crb

If you require a Disclosure you will be issued by the University with:

• A CRB/ISA Application Form
• Information sheet

Please read the University Guidance and CRB e-guide carefully BEFORE you start to complete your application form in BLACK ink. The CRB will return all incorrectly completed application forms and your Disclosure will be significantly delayed. A condition of your offer of a place at Cambridge is subject to receipt of a satisfactory Enhanced CRB check.

Overseas applicants may not have to fill in the CRB application form. Please read the guidance for overseas students or living abroad before completing the form.

You must return:

• Completed application form
• Continuation sheet (if used)
• Documentation to confirm your identity. Photocopies WILL NOT be accepted. ALWAYS send original documentation. Please see the CRB web page http://www.direct.gov.uk/crb
• Payment. Copy of the confirmation of on-line payment email.
• Self-declaration form if applicable
• Overseas criminal record documentation if applicable.

You are advised to send these documents through a secure route.

It is in your interest to disclose any information about criminal records at an early stage in the application process.

Please provide:

• A completed Self Declaration form. In signing the declaration, you are asked to disclose the same level of criminal record as would be disclosed under an Enhanced CRB Disclosure. Complete either Section A to confirm you have no record OR Section B to declare any criminal record.
• Original documentation from the police authority (or other relevant authority) in your country of residence detailing the status of your criminal record. In many countries, this document is called 'A Certificate of No Criminal Conviction', 'A Certificate of Good Conduct' or 'A Police Clearance Certificate'.

If you are unsure about where to obtain your documents, please try the following:

• Approach your local police station or your local authority.
• Contact the embassy or the consulate general in your country of residence or in the United Kingdom. Details for embassies in the United Kingdom can be found on the Foreign and Commonwealth website http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/, telephone 020 7008 1500.
• Look on the internet - Use a word search such as 'Criminal background check in country of residence'.
• Contact the Student Registry. Telephone: 01223 766302, E-mail: crbstudents@admin.cam.ac.uk

Please Note:

Sometimes, official bodies in certain countries may require a letter from the University, stating why it is necessary for you to obtain your criminal record certificate. If you find that this is the case, please contact the Student Registry AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. They will arrange for a letter to be written and sent to your preferred address.

Do not worry if the document you obtain is not written in English. The University has various means of translating such documents, however, you may be asked to provide translations for some languages.

It is very unusual for an applicant to find it impossible to obtain their overseas documentation, unless there are very exceptional circumstances, for instance, if you are a refugee. In such circumstances, or if you are finding it difficult to obtain documents for whatever reason, please contact Student Registry AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, as they will be able to advise you on the most appropriate action to take.

Criminal Records Bureau:

If you have never lived in the UK, you do not need to apply for a CRB check because the CRB only has access to information regarding time spent in the UK.

Any period of 6 months or more spent abroad requires an overseas criminal record check. Only originals are acceptable.

Any period of 6 months or more spent in the UK requires a UK CRB check.

Criminal Records Bureau:

You will need to apply for the UK CRB check as well as overseas criminal record checks.

• Fill in the UK CRB/ISA application form - include a continuous 5 year history of all addresses lived at, including those outside the UK.
• Send the University evidence to confirm your identity requested on the CRB/ISA application form and CRB web page http://www.direct.gov.uk/crb
• A copy of the on-line payment confirmation email.
• Complete a Self Declaration form. In signing the declaration, you are asked to disclose the same level of criminal record as would be disclosed under an Enhanced CRB Disclosure. Complete either Section A to confirm you have no record OR Section B to declare any criminal record.
• Obtain documentation from the police authority (or other relevant authority) in your country of residence detailing the status of your criminal record. There may be a payment attached to obtaining this document or to aspects of the local application process. Fees vary depending on the country of issue. Applicants from overseas are required to meet the cost of any fee themselves.

If you are unsure about where to obtain your documents, please try the following:

• Approach your local police station or your local authority.
• Contact the embassy or the consulate general in your country of residence.
• Look on the internet - Use a word search such as 'Criminal background check in country of residence'.
• Contact the Criminal Records Bureau Overseas Information Service: Telephone: 08700 100 450; E-mail: overseas@crb.gsi.gov.uk; http://www.direct.gov.uk/crb
• Contact the Student Administration & Records Section of the University - Telephone: 01223 764308; E-mail: crbstudents@admin.cam.ac.uk

Please Note:

Sometimes, official bodies in certain countries may require a letter from the University, stating why it is necessary for you to obtain your criminal record certificate. If you find that this is the case, please contact the Student Registry AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. They will arrange for a letter to be written and sent to your preferred address.

Do not worry if the document you obtain is not written in English. The University has various means of translating such documents, however, you may be asked to provide translations for some languages.

It is very unusual for an applicant to find it impossible to obtain their overseas documentation, unless there are very exceptional circumstances, for instance, if you are a refugee. In such circumstances, or if you are finding it difficult to obtain documents for whatever reason, please contact Student Registry AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, as they will be able to advise you on the most appropriate action to take.

Please Note:

Processing by the CRB can take on average four to six weeks. However during their peak period, between June and September, it can take longer. Therefore, please forward your CRB application documents as soon as possible to begin this process. Once you obtain documentation from your country of residence, please forward the original (with your form reference number clearly marked) to complete your application.

Before filling out the application form, please read the rules and guidelines for filling out the application form on line at http://www.direct.gov.uk/crb

Valid types of ID are given at http://www.direct.gov.uk/crb

New Medicine/Veterinary Medicine applicants for intake in Michaelmas term: The completed form must be returned to the Senior Tutor's Office at the College to which you have applied, together with the documentation to confirm your identity, "ID Documents Provided" sheet and proof of payment - a copy of the on-line payment confirmation email.

PGCE applicants: The completed form must be returned to the Faculty of Education together with the documentation to confirm your identity and proof of payment - a copy of the on-line payment confirmation email.

All other applicants: The completed form must be returned to the Student Registry, together with the documentation to confirm your identity and proof of payment - a copy of the on-line payment confirmation email.

New Medicine/Veterinary Medicine applicants for intake in Michaelmas term: The College concerned will check that your application has been correctly filled in and will complete Sections W and X. It will also return to you the documentation confirming your identity and overseas criminal record check if applicable. The College will then forward the application to the Student Registry, for completion of Section Y and to be officially countersigned and despatched to the CRB. Once the CRB has processed the application and completed Section Z, copies of the Disclosure will be simultaneously sent to you at the address you entered in Section b of the application form, and to the University. Please retain your copy for the duration of your course.

PGCE applicants: The Faculty of Education will check that your application has been correctly filled in and will complete Sections W and X. It will also return to you the documentation confirming your identity and overseas criminal record check if applicable. The Faculty will then forward the application to the Student Registry, for completion of Section Y and to be officially countersigned and despatched to the CRB. Once the CRB has processed the application and completed Section Z, copies of the Disclosure will be simultaneously sent to you at the address you entered in Section b of the application form, and to the University. Please retain your copy for the duration of your course.

All other applicants: The Student Registry will check that your application has been correctly filled in and will complete Sections W, X and Y. It will then be officially countersigned and despatched to the CRB. The Student Registry will also return to you the documentation confirming your identity and overseas criminal record check if applicable. Once the CRB has processed the application, copies of the Disclosure will be simultaneously sent to you at the address you entered in Section b of the application form, and to the University. Please retain your copy for the duration of your course.

Processing by the CRB can take on average four to six weeks. However during their peak period, between June and September, it can take longer. Therefore please make sure you have completed and returned your paper work promptly and by the stated deadline. A condition of your offer of a place at Cambridge is subject to receipt of a satisfactory Enhanced CRB check and you cannot start your course without it. Please ensure you submit your application as early as possible.

If you are asked to apply for a CRB check and you already have one for a previous role you can ask if the University is willing to accept it. This will be dealt with on a case by case basis. Please contact the Student Registry on crbstudents@admin.cam.ac.uk

If you have progressed directly from the pre-clinical course (in Cambridge or from elsewhere in the case of medical students), no separate CRB screening is required for entry to the clinical course. Please retain your copy for the duration of your course.

However, if you take a gap year between pre-clinical and clinical courses, you will then be required to apply for a new CRB Enhanced Disclosure.

Cambridge pre-clinical students who degrade for up to a year during the first three years are not required to undergo another CRB check. However, if you degrade for longer periods, you will be required to undergo a further check.

All offers of a place at the University of Cambridge will be conditional on satisfactory CRB or equivalent screening.

If your Enhanced Disclosure reveals any spent or unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands, final warnings or other positive information, it will be referred to the relevant University panel for consideration. The panel is responsible for deciding whether or not you should be allowed to enter onto your course.

The University takes any criminal record seriously and will consider each case individually.

In deciding whether to permit you to enter onto the course, the panel will consider the following:

• The seriousness of the offence and its potential relevance to your course
• The length of time since the offence occurred
• Any relevant information offered by the applicant about the circumstances which led to the offence being committed
• Whether the offence was a one-off, or part of a history of offending
• The degree of remorse, or otherwise, expressed by the applicant and their motivation to change

• The CRB have introduced certain safeguards to ensure that conviction information is not misused and that ex-offenders are not treated unfairly.

However, applicants are given the opportunity to disclose information about past offences when they submit both their UCAS application and their CRB application. The University will not look favourably on prospective students who have not declared this information from the outset.

All information contained within Enhanced Disclosures will be treated confidentially by appropriate University and College Officers. All Disclosures are stored securely within the University for a period of 6 months (from the date of issue), before they are destroyed.

If the relevant University panel decides to prevent you from entering onto your chosen course, the University will not retain the Disclosure or keep any record of the information contained within it. If you are admitted onto your chosen course, the University will retain a record of your Disclosure number, the date of issue, whether it was positive or negative and any action that may have been taken.

A dispute occurs when an applicant:

• Claims that information on the Disclosure received is incorrect or does not belong to them.
• States that some of the personal information printed on the Disclosure received is incorrect.

Applicants only have three months from the date of issue to dispute the contents of a Disclosure.

New Medicine / Veterinary Medicine applicants

If either of the above applies to you, you should notify the College that has offered you a place immediately. The College will then inform the University's CRB countersignatory who will be able to advise you on the appropriate steps to take to resolve the dispute.

PGCE applicants

If either of the above applies to you, you should notify the Faculty of Education immediately. The Faculty will then inform the University's CRB countersignatory who will be able to advise you on the appropriate steps to take to resolve the dispute.

All other applicants

If either of the above applies to you, you should notify Student Administration and Records immediately. They will then inform the University's CRB countersignatory who will be able to advise you on the appropriate steps to take to resolve the dispute.

For further information please contact:

• Criminal Records Bureau, Web: http://www.direct.gov.uk/crb, telephone: 0870 9090844
• Independent safeguarding authority: Web: www.isa.homeoffice.gov.uk/, telephone: 0300 1231111