You can track the progress of a DBS application via the DBS online tracking service. You'll need to enter the e-reference number which starts E0 and the applicant’s date of birth.
To find the e-reference number, login to your BU Admin account and search by application selecting the criteria by status only of ‘receipt received’.
This will bring up all the applications you have in progress with the DBS. You then click on the envelope with green arrow in the status column for the relevant applicant and it will bring up a screen showing application details including the DBS e-reference number.
If an application is held up at the police search stage the DBS have an agreement not to chase the local force until it has been with them for more than 60 days. You can look up the police performance stats to view current process times for each individual force.
However, note that the DBS website advises: ‘due to the nature of the searches carried out on police records some of these searches can take time to complete. The length of time taken does not indicate the existence of relevant information.’