The FA's Policy on DBS Checks

As part of the safeguarding children strategy, The FA requires those working in eligible* roles with children and young people to pass a DBS Check. This is in line with legislation and government guidance and is standard practice.  

The FA provides a framework and guidance for DBS checks in football, which leagues and clubs then have to implement to ensure those required to have DBS checks undertake them.  

Where a DBS check highlights relevant information, this will be investigated further and a risk assessment will be carried out to establish whether or not they can work with children and young people in football.

Activities that require a DBS Check (Eligibility*)

* Eligibility is governed by legislation and government guidance. In brief this means a DBS Check is required for anyone aged 16 years or over who undertakes any potentially unsupervised roles working directly with children and young people under the age of 18. 

These activities include:

• Managing
• Training
• Coaching
• Supervising
• Giving advice or guidance on wellbeing
• Caring for children
• Driving a vehicle solely for children on behalf of a club or organisation. 

All coaches and managers working directly with under-18 players must hold a current, FA-accepted DBS check. 

How to obtain a DBS check

If you are a grassroots coach, manager, first aider or any other club-based role eligible for a DBS check (through working with under-18s), speak to your Club Welfare Officer (CWO).

If you are a Club Welfare Officer, contact Kent FA’s Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) by emailing Safeguarding@KentFA.com

If you are a referee, referee mentor, referee coach, referee assessor or referee tutor, working in under-18s football, contact Kent FA’s Referee Development Officer (RDO) at Refereess@KentFA.com

If you work in a private soccer school a football-related organisation not affiliated with Kent FA, you may not be able to obtain an FA-enhanced DBS check. You should speak to your line manager or contact the FA on 0115 969 4618 or FAChecks@TheFA.com for advice.

How to complete a DBS check using the Whole Game System:

Common things to check for and be aware of before beginning:

• The applicant has an email attached to their FAN and this email is only attached to the FAN
• The applicant can log into their WGS using wholegame.thefa.com
•  The applicant has only one FAN ID (if they have duplicate FANs to contact Info@KentFA.com)
• The process is completed within the given time frame

To always check their junk mail

The Club Welfare Officer (CWO)

• When you are logged onto WGS you will have a number of tabs down the left-hand side
• Select the ‘safeguarding’ tab and it will offer you a further tab on the top called ‘DBS Applications’
• You will then need to select 'club officials' then 'add official'
• This allows you to find the person that you want to add for DBS application.
• You will need their name, date of birth and postcode. (Problems can occur here if the applicant has multiple FAN numbers and you will require assistance to de-duplicate them before the DBS check can be processed.)
• Once the applicant has been found, they need to be selected. Do not create a new contact if a FAN already exists.
• This will then open up the application for them to apply on their personal FAN (An applicant cannot apply for a DBS check without their Club Welfare Officer or another verifier doing this)

The Applicant

• The applicant will then need to access their WGS
• Down the left-hand side they will now see a tile ‘My DBS’ which they need to click on
• The next page will show a green box titled ‘Select’. Once selected, this will activate the email for them to commence the DBS check.
• Once they have entered their document details, you follow the process within the disclosures guidance to verify them.

Find out more about the process here.