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What is a criminal record?

A criminal record is a history of any previous crime(s) you have been found guilty of – or have admitted to the police to carrying out. It's held on a police database and is sometimes referred to as a 'police record'.

Members of the public cannot see criminal records of other people.

When you may, or may not get a criminal record

If you go to court and are convicted of a crime you get a criminal record. This applies to all sentences a court can give – including:

• discharges
• fines
• prison sentences

• Being sentenced by a court - an overview

Cautions, warnings and penalty notices

Sometimes, instead of charging you the police could give you a caution (or a 'warning' or 'reprimand' if you're aged 10-17). These are not criminal convictions but they are recorded on the police database.

There are some situations where you do not get a criminal record - for example, if you're given a fixed penalty notice.

Find out more about cautions, warnings and penalty notices from the link below.

• Police warnings for minor crimes: when you might get a warning and what it means

Length of time a criminal record lasts

Legislation called The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 states that, for most people, a sentence should not have to 'stay with them for life'.

Depending on your sentence, most cautions and convictions eventually become 'spent'. This means that after a certain amount of time (called the rehabilitation period), you don't have to declare an earlier conviction when, for example:

• applying for insurance
• arranging a tenancy on a property
• applying for a job (in most cases)

Once your conviction is spent it's as if you never committed any offence in the first place.

Employment and criminal records

If you apply for certain jobs – for example, working with children – some employers will want to check whether you have a criminal record. See ‘Criminal records check – an introduction’ for more information.

• Criminal record checks: an introduction (employment section)

Sentences that can never be spent

Some sentences can never be spent. Below is a table showing examples of when sentences are spent. The rehabilitation period starts when you are convicted.

If you're unsure when your conviction is spent, get legal advice.

• Where to get legal advice

If you’re given more than one sentence

If you’re convicted of committing more than one crime, you're usually given a sentence for each one. For example, if you commit a driving offence and the police also find illegal drugs on you, you will get a sentence for each offence.

The total rehabilitation period will depend on whether the sentences run concurrently (at the same time) or consecutively (one after the other).

Concurrent sentence – an example

If you get a four month and six month prison sentence ordered to run concurrently, it will count as a single term of six months. This means the rehabilitation period is seven years.

Consecutive sentence – an example

If you get a four month and six month prison sentence ordered to run consecutively, the sentences are added together – making ten months. This means the rehabilitation period is ten years.

Criminal records and court

Normally, a spent conviction cannot be mentioned in a court – for example used in evidence against you by someone else.

If you are charged with a crime and go to court, a spent conviction can't be mentioned by anyone unless the judge (or magistrate) gives permission.

If your criminal record is not spent, the judge (or magistrate) is made aware of it by court officials before they sentence you.

• How court sentences are worked out

If you go abroad to work, visit or emigrate

The 'Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 does not apply in other countries.

For example, if you apply for a travel visa to the USA, you have to declare any criminal record you have – including spent convictions.

• Country travel advice (travel and transport section)