Understanding The New Suitability Vetting System
As part of our continued drive to improve safeguarding, compliance, and role-appropriate verification, BMABA has introduced a new Suitability Vetting system for all instructors, assistant instructors, and volunteers in the summer of 2025.
In reality, this suitability vetting has been in place since 2021 however it has until now been a largely in-house metric.
This system ensures that compliance checks such as DBS, Safeguarding, Insurance, and other qualifications are tailored to your specific role and the audience you work with—not applied universally when not required.
What Is Suitability Vetting?
Suitability Vetting is a declaration of the audience you’re currently working with. This is now a core part of your verification profile and must be kept up to date.
You must select one of the following:
Status | Meaning |
Children, At-Risk & Adults | You're delivering sessions where children or adults at risk may be, or are intended to be, present. Either directly or indirectly, in isolation or as a dedicated class. |
Non At-Risk Adults Only | You're working exclusively with adults, with no access to children or vulnerable people. |
Not Currently Teaching | You're not delivering sessions at the moment. |
Pending Confirmation | We don't yet have confirmation of your current teaching role. |
This selection directly impacts which checks are required for your verification. You can view and update your suitability status at any time.
How To Make Changes
To update your Suitability Vetting status or if you're the lead instructor, to make changes for anyone else on your team;
Log in to your instructor portal at https://mybmaba.org.uk/essentials/verify-your-account/. You'll also find this on the main menu, under Membership > Verify Professional Checks.
Scroll to the Suitability Vetting section.
Click “Update” next to your name (or that of any of your team) and select the correct audience you are working with.
Save your changes. The page will reload and your verification bar and checks will be adjusted automatically.
All updates are logged for internal audit. You can change this at any time, but we recommend keeping it up to date to ensure the correct checks apply.
How It Affects Verification Requirements
Depending on your suitability vetting selection, the system will adjust which checks are required and how your compliance progress is calculated.
1. Children, At-Risk & Adults
This is the default for most instructors and clubs.
All core checks are required.
You must provide:
DBS Check / PVG Certification
Safeguarding Qualification
First Aid Qualification
Instructor Insurance
Identity Verification
Your profile will show a minimum standards compliance bar and a full compliance score.
2. Non At-Risk Adults Only
You teach exclusively adults, with no contact with under-18s or vulnerable people.
You are only required to provide:
First Aid Qualification
Instructor Insurance
Identity Verification
Your DBS and Safeguarding will still show on your profile (if submitted), but they will be marked as “Not Required” and will not affect your verification score.
3. Not Currently Teaching
You're not actively delivering sessions (e.g. on a break, administrative, or behind-the-scenes role). No checks are required, but your previously submitted verifications will still display for transparency. This status will not penalise your profile score but may be flagged if prolonged.
4. Pending Confirmation
We don't yet know who you're working with. Until this is confirmed, your profile will be treated as higher risk by our compliance team and/or IVY, our compliance score.
All checks will be shown, but no minimum compliance bar will appear. Please update your suitability vetting ASAP to allow correct assessment.
⚠️ Important Notes
Your verification dashboard, public profile, and compliance indicators are dynamically updated based on this suitability setting.
Changing your suitability does not delete any previously uploaded checks—it simply hides irrelevant ones from affecting your core score.
Our safeguarding team reserves the right to review and challenge suitability selections that appear inconsistent with your club setup.
Why This Matters
This approach ensures instructors are not over-burdened with unnecessary verification, while still upholding the highest safeguarding standards where appropriate.
It’s especially important for:
Club instructors with mixed teams (e.g. adult-only coaches)
Admins reviewing multi-role compliance
Ensuring club-wide Club Colours or Regulation Ready status aligns with actual roles
Please do bare in mind all check status and compliance scores are visible on our national register, at bmaba.org.uk/verify.