Apply for screening

Updated 9 April 2025

Background checks/screening

You must complete our background checks/screening so we can assess your character and suitability to be admitted as a solicitor.

You also need to apply for screening if you are doing an early assessment of your character and suitability application. Or if you wish to be restored to the roll.

Get a mySRA account

You will need to have a mySRA account to apply. Find out how to get an account.

Use the tabs below to find out what you need to do depending on where you have lived in the last five years.

Living in the UK
Living outside the UK

If you live continuously in the UK for the past five years, this is how to complete your background checks.

How screening is done

Checks are conducted by Atlantic Data and include:

identity (face‑to‑face usually; video is possible in some cases)
financial checks
a standard Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Please make sure you use your full legal name exactly as it appears on your passport/driving licence/birth certificate. It must also match your mySRA details to avoid delays.

Fee

£34 – paid by credit or debit card when you apply

After screening

If there are no disclosures, we will approve your application and you get an email to confirm this. The admission application will then be available for you in your mySRA account.

If there are disclosures, you must upload the DBS certificate so we can look at this further.

Screening results cannot be no more than 6 months old when you apply for admission. Therefore, those on the SQE route should apply for screening when ready for admission ie after exam results are issued or an exemption has been granted.

Also, if you have lived outside the UK for more than 12 months in the past five years, you will need an overseas criminal record check from that country too. Find out more.

Ready to apply

You will need to have a mySRA account to apply for screening. Find out how to get an account.

Apply for screening

If you live outside the UK or have done for more than 12 months in the last five years, you must provide an overseas criminal record check and documentary identity/address evidence.

Documents for identity and address

Name and current address must be verified by documents and it cannot be the same document for both. You will need to scan and upload the documents in mySRA.

These are what we accept:

Proof of name	Proof of address (Must be dated within the last three months)
Passport	Utility bill
Driving licence	Driving licence
Birth certificate	Bank statement
Marriage certificate	Council tax bill
ID card	NHS medical card

Please note, for the purposes of our own checks, utility bills can include gas, electric, satellite television, landline phone and water bills but not internet or mobile phone bills.

You will need to upload these documents as part of your screening application.

Criminal record checks outside the UK

Follow the relevant country’s instructions on how to get a criminal records check.

This check must be no more than three months old when you apply for screening and include an official translation if not in English.

Your screening results will be valid for six months.

Fee

The fee for a criminal record check will be set by the relevant country.

Countries that do not provide criminal checks

We will accept a completed copy of our statutory declaration in place of a criminal check (PDF, 2 pages, 56KB) for these countries/locations:

Hong Kong
Kazakhstan
Myanmar (Burma) – Non-resident
Republic of Ireland
Saudi Arabia
Singapore – Non-national
South Korea

Please contact us if you are having any difficulties getting a criminal check.

You may find Government guidance on criminal records checks for overseas applicants helpful.

Ready to apply

You will need to have a mySRA account to apply for screening. Find out how to get an account.