To have a criminal conviction means you have been found guilty of a crime in a court.

An unspent criminal conviction is one that is still active and will appear in the results of your background check (also called a criminal record or DBS check). When a conviction becomes 'spent' or inactive will depend on the nature of both the offence and the sentence received when you were convicted.

Some serious convictions, like prison sentences for serious violent, sexual or terrorist offences, never become spent or inactive. Fixed Penalty notices and penalty charge notices (i.e. for minor speeding or other driving offences) will not appear on your criminal record unless a court has given you a conviction because of one.

You can check whether any unspent convictions are likely to appear on your record by using this tool.