UK Security Clearance
Many jobs in the defence and public sectors require applicants to pass security checks before they can start employment.
What is Security Clearance?
Security clearance ensures that personnel who will work with sensitive assets do not pose an undue risk to national security by having access to the information.
There are four clearance levels:
- Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)
- Security Check (SC)
- Counter-Terrorism Check (CTC)
- Developed Vetting (DV)
BPSS
This level combines the Baseline Personnel Security Standard and other checks described as the Enhanced Baseline Standard (EBS). They are normally applied as part of a pre-employment checking process. BPSS assesses the trustworthiness and reliability of an applicant and the EBS acts as an introduction to more in-depth security clearance levels.
SC
SC is the most common level of clearance and is for those candidates who will have access to ‘SECRET’ assets or occasional controlled access to ‘TOP SECRET’ assets.
CTC
This level is for candidates who will work with sensitive data or materials, or who are vulnerable to terrorist attack or whose work involves unrestricted access to relevant government or commercial establishments.
DV
DV is the top level of security clearance, it applies to candidates who will require substantial, unsupervised access to ‘TOP SECRET’ assets and/or will be working with the intelligence & security agencies.