Disclosing criminal convictions?

What exactly does the question on the form say? It is my understanding that you must declare relevant convictions and that your conviction would be relevant as it essentially constitutes threatening behaviour of a sort.

This said, I don't think you would be likely to be caught unless your referee mentions it. I would declare it though. Many people who have even served lengthy prison sentences are admitted to universities every year. If you are applying for an academic course with no aspect involving vulnerable people or positions of meaningful trust I don't think this would harm your application enormously. It is, of course, hard to be certain though.

Good luck with whatever you do.

The problem is the laws keep chaning on the matter. If it's a spent conviction then you are under no legal obligation to make them aware outside of certain employment situations.

We ask you to declare if you have any relevant unspent criminal convictions or punishments. Also, if you are applying for a course leading to certain professions or occupations, such as nursing or teaching, that are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, we will ask you to declare any spent or unspent convictions or punishments that would appear on a criminal records check. Some courses involve an integral work placement and you may not be able to undertake the placement and complete your studies if you have criminal convictions or punishments. In addition, while you may be permitted to train for these professions or occupations, you may not be able to register and practise upon completion of your course. Further information on what we mean by 'relevant', 'unspent' and 'conviction' can be found in the help text in the application which you should read carefully before answering these questions.

That is why I asked him exactly what the question said. Certain degrees would require a ROA1974 declaration but his won't be one of them. If his conviction is unspent then whether or not he should declare it will depend on how UCAS interprets "relevant". I imagine he would need to in that case, but would call them and ask to be sure.

Relevant is really just a way of them asking if its spent or unspent.

I'm not convinced that is the case. The information I could find suggested otherwise, but I am more than happy to read their official position if you can link me to it.

I am starting to apply for university next year and i am in a bit of a dilemma with what to do as i had a criminal conviction.
I know it says to state convictions on your ucas form and i was wondering if there is any point in me disclosing if im applying to do a humanities degree so im positive the universities i apply wont conduct a dbs check.

The reason being as i was convicted for racial harrassment (had an argument with someone and said the wrong thing when i was ridiculously drunk and made a huge mistake) .. although the nature of the incident was nothing to serious no violence or anything i just said a stupid thing whilst drunk.
I feel that disclosing it on my application will not help me at all because although it wasnt too serious it was a racial thing and more so frowned upon so i dont believe they will take a second look at my application i'll just get turned down straight away.


Its annoying because ive never been involved in anything like this before and it really doesnt refeltct who i am i just made a stupid comment ion a night out argueing with someone whilst police were present and now i have this on my record i feel asif it is going to haunt me for the rest of my life.

any help would be much appreciated
thnaks

you still have to declare it. the fact that you don't think that it was very 'serious' means nothing. You were convicted in a court of British law, and have completed a sentence on account of this. You really have to declare this, i'm sorry.

You should have accepted the caution, if you didn't want it to reach this stage??

Well we can agree to differ. cba messing around with this, when in fact the OP could have provided the relevant information and id have been able to see.

Its in the guidance notes, which he can see but i can't. he should really look at whether its spent or not because if it is then whether its in the relevant category or not doesnt matter.

Not if its spent.

It isn't really about agreeing to differ as it is beneficial for the truth to be clear. What I have read suggests that the definition of relevant that is used applies beyond a simple spent/unspent distinction (Liverpool, Kent and other universities have guidance which can swiftly be found on Google, for example). I asked you to show me confirmation that instead what you said is the case and you have declined to do so on the basis that you don't believe you can, which is fine. I don't mind being wrong, but it has been a long time since I have taken anything random people on TSR say at face value as I'm sure you can appreciate so in this instance I will continue to believe what I have read on university websites until (hopefully) somebody comes in and clears it up.

I agree with your last statement completely though.

I'll see if I can find a copy of the guidance notes you reference.

Byronic I just cant be bothered (long day, no sleight on you) It doesnt interest me that much and I answer these sorts of questions all the time. The relevant source is what UCAS says and the guidance is where I suggested. It may also be elsehwere. If he had provided more detail then i could have ascertained whether it was spent or not. That gives me the best chance of a definitive answer, so thats the path I would follow.

The other way is just to use some common sense and ring UCAS.

Where a post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, the law protects people from having some old and/or minor convictions and cautions disclosed to employers but sexual and violent offences will always be disclosed, as well as any convictions that resulted in a custodial sentence

Basically if he served time = it will never be 'spent'!


https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q89.htm

This isnt a post.
A custodial sentence can be spent.

We are trying to determine whether the conviction is spent or not and you cant figure that out without knowing what his sentence was and the age which he received it.