For parents
Running your own DBS check.
Our DBS-Verified badge is a useful baseline. It isn't a real-time check. If you'd like extra peace of mind on a specific tutor before booking lessons, you can verify independently, here's how.
What our badge means
A DBS-Verified badge on a Tutorperch profile means a member of our team personally reviewed an Enhanced DBS certificate for that tutor and confirmed it was clear at the point of review. The badge is valid for three years from our verification date; after that we re-verify the certificate to keep the badge current.
What the badge doesn't tell you:
- That the tutor's record is still clear today. We don't auto-recheck, anything that happened after our review wouldn't show on our system.
- That the certificate was issued for tutoring specifically. Enhanced DBS checks are job-specific in theory; in practice the most recent clear cert is usually accepted.
- That a tutor without the Identity Verified badge has had their identity checked. Identity verification is a separate step, see about identity verification.
In short: it's a meaningful baseline that most other tutoring platforms either skip or automate. It isn't a substitute for your own judgement, especially for tutors working with younger children or unsupervised.
What you can do yourself
Ask to see the certificate
It's normal and reasonable to ask a tutor to show you their physical DBS certificate at the start of working together. Compare the cert reference to anything they've cited on their profile, and check the issue date is recent enough for your comfort.
DBS Update Service
If the tutor is subscribed to the gov.uk DBS Update Service , you can ask them for their certificate number and date of birth and run a free online status check. The check tells you whether the certificate is still current, i.e. whether anything has been added since it was issued.
Other steps
Standard parental due-diligence is your call: ask for references, do a trial/intro lesson, keep early lessons supervised or in a public space (e.g. a library) until you've built confidence, ask the tutor's previous students if they have any. None of this is unique to online platforms, these are the same checks you'd run on any tutor you found locally.
Browse DBS-Verified tutors
Filter the directory to tutors we've personally checked.