AccessNI-Verified UK tutors

AccessNI-Verified tutors

Tutors with the AccessNI-Verified badge have had their AccessNI Enhanced Disclosure (the NI Department of Justice's criminal record check) personally reviewed by a member of our team within the last three years. The badge is free for tutors to earn, and a strong baseline signal for parents. It's not a substitute for your own due diligence.

What "AccessNI-Verified" means on Tutorperch

An AccessNI-Verified badge on a tutor's profile indicates that a member of our team has:

Received the tutor's current AccessNI Enhanced Disclosure (digital, via NIDA)
Confirmed the certificate is clear (no relevant criminal record content disclosed)
Confirmed the certificate is dated within the last three years
Confirmed the name on the certificate matches the tutor's identity-verified account

After the review we record the certificate reference, name, date of birth, issue date, and clear status. We do not retain a copy of the certificate document itself.

Why AccessNI instead of DBS

Northern Ireland's criminal record disclosure regime is separate from England and Wales. AccessNI is the NI scheme, run by the NI Department of Justice under the Police Act 1997 framework. DBS and AccessNI are different services with different police records and different legal frameworks. Tutorperch accepts whichever scheme the tutor holds; the verified badge is labelled per-scheme so parents can see at a glance what was checked.

How verification works

Since 1 September 2025, AccessNI only issues digital certificates. The tutor shares theirs with us through their NIDA AccessNI dashboard, and a member of our team reads it online. We don't download or store the certificate. Printed copies of digital AccessNI certificates are explicitly invalid (they carry a "Not valid if printed" watermark), so the only valid view is the live shared record.

Only NIDA-LOA2-verified tutors can share, which means the certificate we view is the live record at AccessNI's end and is tied to the tutor's verified identity.

About the live status check

Per AccessNI's guidance, "AccessNI disclosure certificates are only accurate on the issue date." There is no Update Service equivalent, and no marketplace-side API or portal to re-check the same certificate later. We compensate with the 3-year refresh cycle: a verified AccessNI tutor renews with us by re-sharing a current certificate before their badge lapses. This matches the NI Executive's recent policy of 3-year rechecks across the sector.

What the badge doesn't replace

An AccessNI cert is a snapshot at issue date. Even a clean cert today only confirms what was on PSNI / Police National Computer records up to that moment. For child tutoring specifically, we'd suggest layering normal parental due-diligence on top:

Meet first before booking ongoing lessons: in person if local, video call if online.
Ask the tutor to share their current AccessNI certificate with you directly via the same NIDA flow. It's a normal request and most tutors will oblige.
Ask for references, do a trial lesson, supervise early sessions where you can.

Renewals

Three years after we approved a tutor's AccessNI Disclosure, the badge expires and they share a fresh certificate with us. We email reminders 60 and 30 days before the badge lapses.

What if a tutor doesn't have the badge?

Some Northern Ireland tutors don't submit an AccessNI certificate, typically because they only teach adults or because they're new to the platform and haven't gone through the process yet. The absence of the badge isn't a red flag in itself; it's just an absent positive signal. For child tutoring, parents typically filter on Safeguarding Verified or make the request part of the pre-booking conversation.

Common questions

What does the AccessNI-Verified badge mean? +

A member of our team personally reviewed the tutor's AccessNI Enhanced Disclosure (shared via their NIDA account) and confirmed it was clear at the point of review. The badge is valid for three years from our verification date.

Why AccessNI instead of DBS for Northern Ireland tutors? +

AccessNI is the Northern Ireland scheme for criminal record disclosure, run by the NI Department of Justice under the Police Act 1997 (NI provisions) and the AccessNI Code of Practice. DBS is the England and Wales scheme and isn't equivalent. Tutorperch accepts whichever scheme the tutor holds, with the verified badge labelled per-scheme.

How is verification done? +

The tutor shares their AccessNI Enhanced Disclosure with us through their NIDA account. A member of our team reads the shared certificate and records the outcome. We don't download or retain the document itself.

Verifying a tutor independently

Doesn't AccessNI have a status-check service like DBS? +

No. AccessNI doesn't operate a routine live status check. Per AccessNI's own guidance, certificates are accurate only on the date of issue. The way we keep the badge meaningful is the 3-year refresh cycle: tutors re-share a current certificate with us before their badge lapses. AccessNI's digital-only system (since 1 September 2025) means the cert we view is necessarily current and tied to the tutor's identity-verified NIDA account.

How recently was each tutor checked? +

Each verified tutor's badge expires three years from the date we approved it. We email reminders 60 and 30 days before the badge lapses. The Northern Ireland Executive's recent policy codifies 3-year rechecks across the sector, which we mirror.