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Declaring criminal convictions

If you have an unspent criminal conviction, you may need to declare it to us when we make you an offer that you wish to accept.

Having a criminal conviction will only rarely stop you from studying at Leeds. 

More information is available in our Applicants and students with criminal records policy. 

What is an unspent conviction? 

A conviction or caution is usually considered ‘unspent’ for a set period of time after it is issued. This means that, during this period, you may need to disclose it when asked. The length of time it remains unspent depends on the sentence or disposal received.

When this period ends, the conviction or caution will be considered ‘spent’, and in most situations you will no longer have to disclose it.

If you are unsure whether your conviction or caution is unspent, you may wish to use the independent Disclosure Calculator provided by the charity Unlock.

For more information, you can check the government definition of an unspent conviction. You can also check to see if you need to declare your criminal record.

You can check if your conviction or caution is spent on the government website.

What types of conviction need to be declared?

You need to tell us if you have an unspent conviction of the following:

  • offences concerned with violent or threatening behaviour or the causing of physical or mental harm to others, whether or not such harm was intended or actually caused
  • sexual offences, including those listed in the Sexual Offences Act 2003
  • offences concerned with the unlawful supply of controlled drugs or substances, including dealing or trafficking offences
  • offences concerned with harassment, stalking or malicious communications
  • offences concerned with firearms
  • any ‘hate crime’ as defined by the Crown Prosecution Service
  • offences concerned with arson
  • offences concerned with terrorism

Considerations when declaring an unspent conviction

You also need to be aware of the following: 

If you're not sure whether your conviction is relevant, email the declaration inbox at declaration@leeds.ac.uk. 

How to declare a criminal conviction

You'll need to email the declaration inbox at declaration@leeds.ac.uk within 14 days of accepting an offer to declare a criminal conviction. This deadline to provide all relevant detail may be shorter if close to the registration deadline for your course. Failure to do so could result in the withdrawal of the offer. You must make a declaration for each course you accept an offer for.  

To make a declaration you should provide:

  • your name
  • your student/UCAS/application ID number
  • the course(s) you've applied for
  • the offence(s) you were convicted of
  • the sentence(s) you received
  • the date(s) of your sentence(s)

You can also voluntarily declare a conviction at any time before accepting an offer if you want to know whether it's likely to affect your admission. If you’re voluntarily declaring a conviction, please state this in your email.

We do advise that you inform us as soon as possible if you feel this may apply to you so we can support you with the process and to give you the greatest opportunity to study at the University.  

We also encourage you to take this opportunity to include a personal statement as part of your declaration to explain your reasoning for wanting to study at the University of Leeds, including any additional relevant information that you would wish for the Panel to take into consideration at the point of reviewing your case. 

You can access independent advice on applying for university with a criminal conviction from Unlock and Nacro.

How can declaring a criminal conviction impact an offer?

If we don’t consider your conviction to be relevant, we’ll let you know and no record will be kept of the declaration.

If we consider that it may be relevant, we’ll ask for more information. This may include a request for permission to contact relevant people, such as your probation officer, social worker or referees. 

Once we have the information we need, we’ll carry out a risk assessment. We’ll then either:

  • Confirm your offer with no changes or additional restrictions.
  • Propose additional conditions on your admission. These could include restricting your module choices or rejecting your application to stay in University accommodation, or restricting it to certain locations. You can then choose whether to accept or decline these conditions. If you decline these conditions, your offer will be withdrawn.
  • Withdraw your offer.

Declaring criminal convictions FAQs

Are there any additional considerations for my course? 

Declaring a conviction when applying 

For some courses we might ask you to declare any previous spent or unspent criminal convictions or any past criminal actitivities that may show up on a criminal record check when applying. This extra information is typically needed for clinical programmes, or courses where you will be working with young or vulnerable people and require Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. If this applies to your course, we’ll send you further information during the application process, or while on course for optional modules that have this requirement.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks

For some courses, you may need to pass a DBS check (and/or international equivalent, or, where appropriate, provide a Certificate of Good Conduct or equivalent) in order to comply with the requirements of the government and relevant professional bodies. Where this applies, we’ll send you information at the appropriate time.

If your offer requires a DBS check, you won't need to disclose anything other than the category of conviction when you receive an offer. If the DBS check reveals any convictions that would prevent you from completing your studies, your offer will be withdrawn.

Additional criminal convictions policy for dentistry, medicine and healthcare courses

If you’re planning to study in the School of Dentistry, School of Healthcare or School of Medicine, you'll also need to meet the Admissions Policy for Clinical and Practice Courses in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. You'll be given more information about this during the application process.

Confirming your undergraduate course if you’re applying for a foundation year 

If your offer includes a foundation year, as part of the declaration process we’ll ask you to confirm the course that you’ll be progressing on to after completing your foundation year. For foundation years with an intended progression route to a programme within the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, a different process may apply. 

JumpStart applicants

If your offer is for the JumpStart taster course, we will require you to follow the same criminal conviction declaration process. However, as this is a short course, the risk assessment process will typically be reduced, as participants will not have access to the same level of resources as a student studying at Leeds.

Visa requirements

Please note that even if your criminal convictions do not prevent you from studying at the University they may still affect your ability to obtain a visa or enter certain countries. This includes both UK immigration requirements and any overseas travel, study or placement opportunities that form part of your course. It is your responsibility to check the relevant visa and entry requirements.

Why do we ask you to declare your conviction?


We do not wish for a criminal record to be a barrier to accessing the benefits of Higher Education. However, we have a duty of care to protect our community and provide a safe and secure environment for our students, staff and members of the public. This can include children under the age of 18 and other vulnerable people in line with our safeguarding policy.

We ask for information about convictions so that we’re able to identify and minimise any potential risks. We also use the information to assess your suitability for your course or to stay in University accommodation and to make any reasonable adjustments where appropriate. 

We’ll assess whether a conviction gives reasonable grounds for thinking that your admission would:

  • Pose a threat to the safety of staff, students, visitors, those coming into contact with you during your studies or others involved in University business.
  • Be contrary to the law or the requirements or guidance of any relevant professional, statutory or regulatory body.

Where third parties are involved in the delivery of a programme, you may also have to meet their requirements. 

What will the University do with the declaration?

We treat all declarations confidentially. Information is only used to carry out the risk assessment and any risk management steps identified. All information is stored securely and only accessible by the relevant members of staff as detailed in our Applicants and students with criminal records policy.

How long does the University keep information about criminal convictions?

If your conviction isn’t considered relevant, we won't keep any information declared to us.

If your conviction is considered relevant, the amount of time we'll keep the information will depend on the outcome of the risk assessment process:

  • If you’re admitted to the University, the information will be kept until your conviction is spent or until six months after you leave the University, whichever comes first.
  • If you’re not admitted to the University, whether because of your criminal conviction or for another reason, such as not achieving the grades of your offer, the information will be kept until six months after the last date on which you could have registered for your course if you’d been admitted.

What do I do if I receive a relevant conviction between accepting my offer and starting my course?

You must notify the University as soon as possible. Email the declaration inbox at declaration@leeds.ac.uk so that a risk assessment can be completed before you start your course. Please note that you won’t be able to register for your course until a risk assessment has been completed and the outcome communicated with you. Any restrictions (if applicable) must be accepted before you can register for your course.

What happens if I don’t declare a relevant unspent criminal conviction?

If you don't declare a relevant unspent conviction, your offer could be withdrawn. If you’ve already registered, you may be asked to leave the University.

How do I appeal a decision? 

You have the right to appeal a decision. To do this, email the Head of Student Cases at studentcases@leeds.ac.uk. Grounds for appeal are outlined in the Applicants and students with criminal records policy.

For further information