Outschool is committed to learner safety on our platform. To that end, all approved Outschool educators must complete an identity verification and criminal background check before they can teach on the platform.

This article covers background check services, eligibility requirements, screening criteria, processing times, renewal, and regional details.

We use a service called Checkr to perform most of our background checks and pay all associated fees. Checkr is a secure, industry-standard service for background checks within the United States, Mexico, Canada, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea. At this time, Checkr can only perform U.S. background checks for applicants residing within the 50 states, but not including Puerto Rico, Guam, or other U.S. territories. You can learn more about Checkr’s data storage and information security practices here.

For educators located in the United Kingdom, we use a service called Accurate to perform our background checks.

Background checks are initiated from Outschool teaching accounts with approved applications. Here are some important considerations before submitting a background check:

We background check our educators to screen for violent offenses and/or trust and safety offenses. We have these limitations to support the trust and safety of our community. For teachers with a criminal record, Outschool will consider the nature of the offense and the time since the offense. Due to the virtual nature of Outschool classes, we do not consider vehicle or traffic violation offenses. Trust and safety charges include, but are not limited to:

A Checkr background check generally takes a few business days to complete for U.S. and Canada-based applicants. Educators experiencing a processing delay through Checkr can log in to the Candidate Portal using their Outschool email to check the status, or contact Checkr's support team for more detailed information. County closures and changes in state laws may impact processing times. Educators can also review Checkr's status page for the most up-to-date information.

Active educators are required to renew their background check annually — one year after their last check clears, with a one-month window to have the new check approved. This process will repeat annually for as long as you teach on Outschool. When it is time to renew, our team will send you an educators an email prompting them to begin the process.

To renew a background check:

Note: The Renew button can take up to 24 hours after your renewal email to appear.

If an educator has active enrollments while renewing their background check, they will be able to continue teaching while their background check is processing. However, they will not be able to gain new enrollments until the background check is complete and returns clear (please be aware that this only pertains to teachers who are renewing their background check).

For learner safety, if an educator fails to renew their background check or fails the renewal, their account will be immediately suspended without advance notice, and they will not be able to teach on the platform (this includes any active enrollments prior to renewal as well).

The Canadian background check process requires an additional step to comply with Canadian privacy laws. Canadian teachers will receive a Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) form from Checkr once they have initiated the background check. Educators need to submit this form and additional forms of government identification to Checkr in order to complete the background check. This will include submitting 2 pieces of government ID and may include a video verification step with a member of Checkr’s team. Once these pieces of documentation are submitted, the check will process within a few business days.

Checkr is set up to perform background checks in Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea; however, the process will take longer than it does for teachers from the U.S. and Canada. Educators should allow at least a month for the background check to process, and should promptly complete any follow-up actions that Checkr requests. These requests will be sent via email from a checkr.com email address.

Australia note: Educators should enter their passport number under the National Identification Number field.

Teachers from the U.K. complete background checks through a service called Accurate. After starting the background check from their teacher profile settings, educators will receive an email invitation within the next 2-3 business days to complete your check via Accurate. Once Accurate receives the required information and documents, the background check takes about two weeks to a month to complete. Be aware that if educators do not access the system and submit the required information within 10 days of the original request, your background check will be canceled, and a new background check will have to be requested. Educators will receive an email from Accurate and Outschool once your background check is complete.

Please note that Outschool does not accept other DBS screenings not completed through Outschool. Educators with questions regarding the process can reach out directly to Accurate.