What CQC ratings mean, and how much to trust them

The four ratings, the five questions behind them, why a date matters as much as the word, and what "not yet rated" tells you.

The four ratings

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspects every home care agency in England and gives it one of four overall ratings: Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement or Inadequate. Roughly four in five rated agencies are Good; Outstanding is rare (around one in twenty); Inadequate is rarer still and usually leads to enforcement action.

The five questions

Behind the overall rating are five key questions, each rated separately: is the service safe, effective, caring, responsive to people's needs, and well-led. For home care, "safe" (medicines, missed visits, safeguarding) and "well-led" (does the manager know what is happening) are the two that predict most problems. An agency rated Good overall but Requires improvement for safe deserves a direct question about what has changed since.

Why the date matters

CQC inspections are not frequent. Many agencies were last inspected three or more years ago, and a rating only tells you what an inspector found on that day. We show the rating date on every listing. A recent Good is a stronger signal than an old Outstanding; a manager change since the last inspection is worth asking about.

"Not yet rated"

Newly registered agencies have no rating until their first inspection, which can take a year or more. That does not make them unsafe, but it means nobody independent has checked yet. Ask to see their training records, their complaints log, their policies on medicines and missed visits, and for two references from current clients.

Where to read the full report

Every listing links to the agency's page on cqc.org.uk, where the full inspection report is published. The "summary of findings" section at the top is the part to read.

Published 2026-11-05. General information, not advice about an individual's care or finances; figures are national and change yearly.