The September 2026 DBS change for volleyball coaches

What changed

Regulated activity is work that a barred person must not do, and it is against the law to let a barred person do it. Until 1 September 2026, someone who taught, trained, instructed, cared for or supervised children could fall outside regulated activity if another person who was in regulated activity supervised them closely enough.

That supervision rule has now been removed. If a person teaches, trains, instructs, cares for or supervises children often enough, or overnight, they are in regulated activity with children even if someone else supervises them. DBS names “assistant coaches who are supervised by a head coach” as one of the groups affected.

“Often enough, or overnight” has a precise meaning. The work counts if it happens:

• on more than 3 days in any 30-day period, or
• once overnight, between 2am and 6am.

In practice, the change moves those roles from being eligible for an Enhanced DBS check to being eligible for an Enhanced DBS check with a Children’s Barred List check.

What it looks like at a volleyball club

• An assistant coach at twice-weekly junior training. They help at the Tuesday and Thursday junior sessions, always alongside the head coach. That is more than 3 days in 30, so from 1 September they are in regulated activity with children, and eligible for an Enhanced check with a Children’s Barred List check.
• A volunteer who helps coach juniors once a month. Not often enough to meet the “more than 3 days in 30” condition, so this role is not regulated activity. DBS guidance for sport says people who coach children more than once but not that often are eligible for an Enhanced DBS check without a Barred List check.
• A coach looking after juniors on an overnight tournament trip. Caring for or supervising children once overnight between 2am and 6am meets the condition on its own.

What the change does not mean

DBS has published a myth-busting note. The points that matter most to clubs:

• It is not a new legal duty to check. The law does not create a new requirement to carry out DBS checks. Clubs remain responsible for assessing their roles and deciding which check is appropriate and legally available. (Volleyball England’s own guidance is below.)
• Nobody has to be stood down automatically. The law does not require you to remove someone from their role just because their check is being processed. That is the club’s decision, based on its safeguarding responsibilities and risk assessment.
• Sports clubs are included. The change is not limited to schools or to volunteers.
• Adult sessions are unaffected. It only changes regulated activity with children.
• You could apply early. Checks could be applied for before 1 September where the rest of the criteria were met.

What Volleyball England asks of clubs

Volleyball England’s guidance is that anyone working in regulated activity, paid or volunteer, should get an Enhanced DBS check with a Barred List check. DBS checks through Volleyball England run online through First Advantage’s KnowYourPeople system.

To apply through Volleyball England, a person must:

• have an active Coach or Volunteer membership for the current season;
• have completed a safeguarding course (Safeguarding Children and Young People, Safeguarding Adults, or Volleyball England’s Safeguarding Children and Adults in Volleyball course), with the certificate uploaded to their VolleyZone account;
• for Club Welfare Officers, also have completed the Time to Listen course;
• be engaged in regulated activity.

On cost: each club gets a maximum of three free DBS checks a year, and active coach members don’t count towards that limit. Each individual can have one free Volleyball England check in a three-year cycle. Extra checks, for example after a change of role, are paid by the individual or the club.

On training: anyone renewing a safeguarding certificate after 1 April 2025 has to complete Volleyball England’s Safeguarding Children and Adults in Volleyball course; certificates from other providers are no longer accepted.

A checklist for your committee

Based on DBS’s “what organisations should do now”:

• List everyone who coaches or looks after juniors while someone else supervises them: assistant coaches, session helpers, team managers who travel with junior squads.
• For each, check how often they do it: more than 3 days in any 30, or overnight.
• Check whether their current DBS certificate includes a Children’s Barred List check.
• Decide who needs a new Enhanced check with Children’s Barred List information, in line with Volleyball England’s guidance, and apply through Volleyball England.
• Update your recruitment, volunteering and safeguarding procedures to include the change.
• Check eligibility again whenever someone’s role, or the way they do it, changes.

Scotland

This change covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Clubs in Scotland use the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme instead; see Scottish Volleyball’s guidance on PVGs and regulated roles.

Sources

• DBS: Change to the definition of regulated activity with children from 1 September 2026
• DBS: Common misconceptions about the September 2026 supervision exemption changes
• DBS: DBS checks in sport: working with children
• Volleyball England: Apply for a DBS check
• Volleyball England: Safeguarding training requirements and roles