What it reads
A national search returns convictions and pending charges against a verified identity. That is the whole of it, and it is worth having — but it is a record, not a person.
What it cannot see
Anything never charged, anything in another country, and anything at all about whether somebody can teach. A clear search is a floor rather than a recommendation.
The four that answer the rest
Photo ID ties the person in front of you to the record. The degree check says they know the subject. The subject test says they can do it under a clock, marked by a senior tutor. Three reviewed first lessons say somebody watched them teach before your child was in the room.
The one worth asking about
Ask when the background check was last re-run. A check from four years ago is a check about a person who existed four years ago. Ours re-runs yearly and the badge comes off the day it lapses.