OFFICIAL SENSITIVE PERSONAL when complete MOD Form 493 (DRS ver, rev 11/23)

Page 1

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 *

with 2023 Amendments

Advice to Applicants to HM Armed Forces

* For Northern Ireland the Rehabilitation of Offenders
(Northern Ireland) Order 1978 S.I. 1978 No. 1908 (N.I.27) refers

Applicants should read this form carefully before submitting details of criminal convictions

Further information can be found on the National Association for Care and Resettlement (Nacro) website
at https://www.nacro.org.uk
OFFICIAL SENSITIVE PERSONAL when complete MOD Form 493 (DRS ver, rev 11/23)
Page 2

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 * (see note 1)

Advice to Applicants to HM Armed Forces
Notes:

1. Includes 2001, 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2023 amendments.

2. For Northern Ireland the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 S.I. 1978 No. 1908 (N.I.27) refers.

3. Paragraph 6 – [Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions) Order 1975 No. 1023] – For Northern Ireland the Rehabilitation of
Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order (Exceptions) Order 1979 (Statutory Rule 195) refers.

1. You are required to give any details of any civil convictions you may have which are considered ‘unspent’ under the Rehabilitation of
Offenders Act 1974* before your application to join one of HM Forces can be considered. It is your responsibility to distinguish
between ‘spent’ and ‘unspent’ convictions and the following advice will concern you if you have ever been convicted in a civil court of
an offence. You should read it carefully before filling in any enrolment form or answering any questions put to you by recruiting staff or
the interview board about civil convictions. (For disclosure of service convictions see paragraph 9).

2. The purpose of The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974*, which applies to both civilians and Service personnel, is to give those who
have been convicted of offences a chance to ‘live down’ their convictions. This means that if a certain period of time has passed since
the date on which you were convicted, the conviction becomes ‘spent’ and you are therefore entitled to ignore the conviction and to fill
in the application form and to answer any questions put to you by the recruiting officer or interview board as if the offence, conviction
and sentence had never taken place. The periods after which the convictions become ‘spent’ are set out as to type of sentence
overleaf. You should note that ‘conviction’ includes an absolute or conditional discharge, supervision, probation, care, hospital and
community service orders and binding over. In the interests of national security, however, both spent and unspent convictions have to
be declared to the Security Authorities. These details are to be inserted on a Security Questionnaire but are solely a matter between
yourself and the Security Department.

3. If you have been in prison, remand home, approved school or any other form of corrective training or youth custody establishment as a
result of a conviction which has become ‘spent’, you are entitled to ignore the fact in describing your past education and employment
on the application form and in answering questions put to you by the recruiting staff or the interview board. The recruiting staff may
ask you about the gaps as these may be owing to an error by the applicant. You may inform them that you have given all the details
which you are required to disclose and that you have nothing to add.

4. If you fail to disclose a conviction which is not ‘spent’, you may become liable to prosecution, either by the Service or civil authorities
and may be discharged from the Service. However, an ‘unspent’ conviction will not necessarily debar you from entry into the Armed
Forces.

5. Should you have any doubt about whether a conviction is ‘spent’ or not, you should, before filling in the application form or answering
questions, make sure of your position by consulting Citizens Advice, a Community Law Centre or the Clerk to the Court where you
were last convicted, or a Solicitor or Probation Officer or any other competent authority.

6. If you wish to serve in a dental, legal, medical, nursing or police role or branch within the Armed Forces or be employed within a Cadet
Force concerned with training for the Armed Forces, then the advice set out above does not apply to you. Under the Rehabilitation of
Offenders (Exceptions) Order 1975 No. 1023, anyone who wishes to serve in these employments must disclose all convictions, ‘spent’
as well as ‘unspent’, and answer fully in discussion with the recruiting officer or interview board any questions about ‘spent’
convictions.

6a. If the role you are applying for involves Regulated Activity with children or vulnerable adults you must inform your Recruiter if you
cannot work in Regulated Activity.

7. If entered into the Service you may be required for work on highly classified material. If such a stage occurs in your Service career all
past conviction ‘spent’ and ‘unspent’ will have to become known to the security authorities in confidence.

8. You must declare if you are prohibited from having a firearm or ammunition under section 21 of The Firearms Act 1968.

9. (Re-entrants and Ex-Servicemen only.) There is a requirement for you to list all unspent convictions for Service offences.
OFFICIAL SENSITIVE PERSONAL when complete MOD Form 493 (DRS ver, rev 11/23)
Page 3

Notes for use in conjunction with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act

(Advice to applicants)

• “Imprisonment” includes detention in a young offenders institution in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

• Consecutive terms of imprisonment or of detention under section 53 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 or section 206 of the
Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 and terms which are wholly or partly concurrent (being terms of imprisonment or detention
imposed in respect of offences of which a person was convicted in the same proceedings) shall be treated as a single term.

• No account shall be taken of any subsequent variation, made by a court in dealing with a person in respect of a suspended sentence
of imprisonment, of the term originally imposed.

• A sentence imposed by a civil criminal court outside the United Kingdom shall be treated as a sentence of that one of the descriptions
mentioned on page 4 which most nearly corresponds to the sentence imposed.

• When more than one sentence is imposed in respect of a conviction and none is an excluded sentence the rehabilitation period shall
be the longer or longest of the relevant periods applying to those sentences.

• Where a person has been conditionally discharged or placed on probation for an offence and after the end of the rehabilitation period
is further sentenced for that offence as a result of breach of conditional discharge or probation then the initial conviction shall not be
regarded as spent until the end of the new rehabilitation period applicable to that further offence.

• Where during the rehabilitation period a person is convicted of another offence and a sentence subject to rehabilitation is imposed, the
shorter of the rehabilitation periods shall be extended to end at the same time as the other. This is subject to three exceptions:

1. A conviction resulting solely in the imposition of a Relevant Order; disqualification, disability, prohibition, restriction or other
penalty (of a like nature) shall not have the effect of extending a rehabilitation period arising from an earlier conviction.

2. Convictions in Northern Ireland of offences which are not triable on indictment, in England and Wales of a summary offence
or of a scheduled offence within the meaning of the section 22 of the Magistrates Court Act 1980 tried summarily because
the value involved is small, and convictions in Scotland of offences which are not excluded from the jurisdiction of inferior
courts of summary jurisdiction by virtue of section 4 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Scotland) Act 1954 shall not have the
effect of extending a rehabilitation period arising from an earlier conviction.

3. Convictions by courts outside the United Kingdom of offences which would not have been offences if committed in the
United Kingdom shall not have the effect of extending a rehabilitation period arising from an earlier conviction.

• Convictions where certain sentences are imposed are excluded from rehabilitation. The following sentences are exempt from the 1974
Act and can never become spent:

1. Life Imprisonment
2. Imprisonment, Youth custody Detention or Corrective Training for more than 48 months for serious violent, sexual or terrorist
offences
3. Preventive Detention
4. Custody for Life
5. Detention during His Majesty’s pleasure or for life
6. Public protection sentences (imprisonment/detention for public protection and extended determinate sentences for
dangerous offenders).
OFFICIAL SENSITIVE PERSONAL when complete MOD Form 493 (DRS ver, rev 11/23)
Page 4 (Annex A)

Rehabilitation (“spent”) period

Sentence (reckoned from the date of sentence completed,
unless stated otherwise)

Custodial sentence, including:

imprisonment (including suspended sentences), detention in a young offender

institution or Youth Custody, Borstal Training (abolished 1983), corrective training,
Detention, Detention and Training Orders

- over 48 months following a conviction for any serious violent, sexual or Never
terrorist offences or a public protection sentence of any length:

- over 48 months: 7 years (3½ years if under 18 at time of conviction)

- more than 12 months but not exceeding 48 months: 4 years (2 years if under 18 at time of conviction)

- a period not exceeding 12 months: 12 months (6 months if under 18 at time of conviction)

Fine (including fines upon children or young persons but ordered to be paid by their 1 year from date of conviction
parents) (reckoned from date of conviction): (6 months if under 18 at time of conviction)

Hospital order/interim hospital order: The last day the order has effect, if no date given then
2 years from date of conviction

Formal/Simple/youth Caution, warnings given by constable or Procurator Fiscal

(Scotland), fixed penalties and notices under section 129 Spent immediately
of the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004:

Order for custody in a remand home, approved school order or attendance centre The last day the order has effect, if no date given then
order: 2 years from date of conviction

Compensation orders: The date the payment is made in full

3 months; or earlier,
Conditional caution and youth conditional caution:
when the caution ceases to have effect

Reparation Order or Absolute Discharge (England and Wales): Spent immediately

Conditional discharge; bound over to keep the peace, bound over to be of good
The last day the order has effect, if no date given then
behaviour, Street Offences Act Order,
2 years from date of conviction
a Referral Order under section 16 Sentencing Act 2000:

A Relevant (Ancillary) Order (not listed elsewhere) which imposes a Disqualification

The last day the order has effect, if no date given then
(when driving licence not endorsed), disability, prohibition, penalty, requirement or
2 years from date of conviction
restriction:

Motoring Endorsements/Disqualifications: 5 years (2½ years if under 18 at time of conviction)

Supervision Requirement or Order or Supervision Order or Care Order or Fit Person

Order because a child has committed a criminal offence. Youth Rehabilitation order or The last day the order has effect, if no date given then
Residential Training of a child by a court order under section 413 Criminal Procedure 2 years from date of conviction
(Scotland) Act 1975:

Absolute discharge (Scotland); Admonishment (Scotland), discharge by Children’s

Hearing in Scotland following acceptance or judicial establishment of the commission 6 months from date of order/discharge
of a criminal offence by the child:

Curfew Orders, Community Order, Community Sentence, Combination Orders, Youth

Conference Order and Community Responsibility Order (Northern Ireland Only), The last day the order has effect, if no date given then
Overseas Community Order, and any other sentence not appearing in this list and 2 years from date of conviction
subject to rehabilitation:
OFFICIAL SENSITIVE PERSONAL when complete MOD Form 493 (DRS ver, rev 11/23)
Page 5 (Annex B)

Rehabilitation Periods For Those With Previous Military Service

Rehabilitation (“spent”) period
Sentence (reckoned from the date of sentence completed, unless
stated otherwise)

Sentence plus 1 year

Service detention (including suspended sentences) (see note 1 below): (Sentence plus 6 months
if under 18 at time of conviction)

Cashiering, Discharge with Ignominy 1 year

or Dismissal with Disgrace from His Majesty’s Service: (6 months if under 18 at time of conviction)

1 year
Dismissal from His Majesty’s Service:
(6 months if under 18 at time of conviction)

Forfeit of Seniority: Spent immediately

Reduction in Rank: Spent immediately

Severe Reprimand: Spent immediately

Reprimand: Spent immediately

For the period specified in the order

Service Supervision and Punishment Order:
(see note 2 below)

Last day the order has effect

Stoppage of Leave:
(see note 3 below)

Last day the order has effect

Restriction of Privileges:
(see note 3 below)

Admonition: Spent immediately

1 year from date of conviction,

Service Fine (from a Service Court or a CO at a Summary Hearing): subject to reduction by half for persons
under the age of 18

Service Compensation Order: The date the payment is made in full

Service Community Order: 1 year from date order ceased to be in force if no date given,
then 2 years from date of conviction, subject to reduction by
half for persons under the age of 18

Notes

1. Starting from the day on which the sentence is completed, ie the date on which the individual is actually released from Detention.

2. For example, where an individual is awarded a SSPO for 60 days the sentence will be rehabilitated after 60 days even if the individual’s
CO reviews the punishment and decides to conclude the punishment earlier.

3. Where the CO decides that the punishment should not begin immediately, the sentence will be rehabilitated on the last day the order has
effect.