Key findings from 14,599 care homes: 76% are rated Good or Outstanding. 21.6% are improving, 4.2% declining. But 42% have not been inspected in over 5 years — the average rating is 54.7 months old. The North East leads on quality (84.6% Good+Outstanding); the East of England has the highest decline rate (6.2%).
Data in this article is current as of March 2026, based on RightCareHome's analysis of CQC inspection records for all registered care homes in England.
Every year, thousands of British families face one of the most consequential decisions of their lives: choosing a care home for a parent or loved one. Most begin with a CQC rating search. But how reliable is that rating in 2026? And what does the full picture actually look like when you analyse every registered care home in England?
We processed the inspection records of all 14,599 CQC-registered care homes in England — their ratings, trend directions, inspection dates, and regional patterns. This is what the data shows, what it hides, and how families can use it to make better decisions.
The National Picture: 14,599 Homes Analysed
Every care home in England receives a CQC rating after inspection, scored across five domains (Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, Well-Led) and summarised as an overall rating.
Here is how the 14,599 registered care homes currently break down:
| Rating | Number of Homes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Outstanding | 644 | 4.4% |
| Good | 10,458 | 71.6% |
| Requires Improvement | 2,261 | 15.5% |
| Inadequate | 124 | 0.8% |
| No rating yet | 1,070 | 7.3% |
At first glance, this looks reassuring. Over three-quarters of homes (76.0%) are rated Good or Outstanding. Fewer than one in a hundred holds an Inadequate rating. The system appears to be working.
But there is a problem buried in these numbers — and it is one that matters enormously to families searching right now.
The "Good" Problem
When 71.6% of all care homes share the same rating, how do you differentiate between them? A home rated Good five years ago after a full inspection and a home rated Good last month after a focused inspection carry the same label, yet may offer vastly different standards of care today.
This is the fundamental limitation of snapshot ratings. They tell you what a home looked like on inspection day. They do not tell you what direction it is travelling in, how long it has held that rating, or whether specific areas of care — safety, leadership, responsiveness — are stronger or weaker than the headline suggests.
For families, the practical consequence is this: you cannot shortlist care homes on rating alone. A Good-rated home may be quietly declining, and a Requires Improvement home may be actively improving under new management. The rating is a starting point, not an answer.
If you want to understand what each CQC rating level actually means in practice, our guide to what CQC ratings actually mean breaks this down in detail.
Trend Direction: Who Is Improving and Who Is Declining
This is where our analysis moves beyond what you will find on the CQC website. By comparing each home's current rating against its previous inspection, we calculated a trend direction for every home in England.
| Trend | Number of Homes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Improving | 3,158 | 21.6% |
| Stable | 8,236 | 56.4% |
| Declining | 620 | 4.2% |
| Insufficient data | 2,585 | 17.7% |
The overall picture is cautiously positive. More than one in five homes (21.6%) are on an improving trajectory — their most recent inspection showed better results than the one before. Just 4.2% are declining, meaning their latest rating was worse than their previous one. The majority (56.4%) are stable, maintaining their current standard.
What "Improving" Actually Means
An improving trend typically means one of two things: the home moved up a full rating level (say, from Requires Improvement to Good), or it improved in one or more individual domains during a focused inspection. Both are meaningful signals.
A home that has moved from Requires Improvement to Good has usually undergone significant changes — perhaps a new registered manager, investment in staffing, or an overhaul of care planning processes. These homes are often highly motivated to maintain their improved standard because they know they will be re-inspected.
Why 17.7% Have Insufficient Data
Nearly one in five homes (2,585) lack enough inspection history to calculate a trend. This happens for several reasons: the home may be newly registered and have only one inspection on record, or its previous inspection may have been so long ago that the comparison is not meaningful. In some cases, a home's earlier inspections resulted in "Inspected but not rated" — a designation used during focused inspections that examined specific concerns without reassessing the full rating.
This gap matters. If you are considering a home with insufficient trend data, you are essentially making your decision on a single data point. That is not necessarily a reason to rule it out, but it is a reason to dig deeper during visits and to ask more questions about recent changes.
Why Trend Matters More Than the Snapshot Rating
Consider two homes, both rated Good:
- Home A was rated Requires Improvement two years ago and has since improved to Good. Trend: improving.
- Home B was rated Outstanding three years ago and has since dropped to Good. Trend: declining.
Both carry the same CQC label today. But the trajectories are entirely different. Home A is investing in improvement. Home B may be losing the qualities that once set it apart. Trend direction gives you the context that a static rating cannot.
We explore this concept further in our guide to hidden quality signals beyond CQC ratings.
The Inspection Gap: 42% Haven't Been Checked in Over 5 Years
This is the finding in our analysis that should concern families most. Not the ratings themselves — but how old they are.
| Inspection Age | Number of Homes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 1 year | 1,236 | 8.5% |
| 1–2 years | 1,122 | 7.7% |
| 2–3 years | 2,055 | 14.1% |
| 3–4 years | 1,961 | 13.4% |
| 4–5 years | 973 | 6.7% |
| Over 5 years | 6,129 | 42.0% |
| No inspection date | 1,123 | 7.7% |
The average inspection age across all English care homes is 54.7 months — that is four and a half years. Fewer than one in ten homes (8.5%) have been inspected within the last twelve months. And 42% of all homes — more than 6,100 — have not been inspected in over five years.
To put that in perspective: a home last inspected in early 2021 has likely changed its registered manager, turned over a significant portion of its care staff, and navigated the aftermath of the pandemic — all without a formal CQC assessment.
The Context: A Regulator Under Pressure
This inspection gap did not happen in a vacuum. It is the result of a well-documented series of failures at the CQC itself:
- July 2024: The independent Dash Review found that the CQC's new Single Assessment Framework was fundamentally failing to deliver timely inspections. Health Secretary Wes Streeting described the regulator as "not fit for purpose."
- February 2025: A Parliamentary debate on Care Homes Safety Ratings highlighted that families were being forced to rely on outdated information when making critical decisions.
- April 2025: An ITV investigation revealed that thousands of care homes had not been inspected since before the pandemic, with some homes operating for over six years without scrutiny.
The CQC has acknowledged these issues and committed to returning to a regular inspection cycle. But as of March 2026, the backlog remains substantial.
What This Means for Families
If you are researching care homes today, there is a meaningful chance that the CQC rating you see was awarded before the pandemic. A Good rating from 2020 does not tell you what the home is like in 2026.
This does not mean the rating is worthless — most homes rated Good will still be providing good care. But it does mean you need additional sources of information. Visiting in person remains essential. So does checking whether the home has a registered manager in post, reviewing recent complaints data, and looking at trend indicators where available.
Our guide to checking a care home online before visiting walks through seven practical checks you can do from home.
Regional Quality Map: Where Standards Differ
Care home quality is not evenly distributed across England. Our analysis reveals significant regional variation in both current ratings and trend direction.
| Region | Homes | Good + Outstanding | Improving | Declining |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North East | 790 | 84.6% | 25.1% | 3.0% |
| London | 1,380 | 82.8% | 19.2% | 3.0% |
| South West | 1,668 | 81.9% | 22.3% | 4.6% |
| South East | 2,412 | 77.5% | 22.2% | 4.6% |
| East Midlands | 2,024 | 74.6% | 21.5% | 4.7% |
| Yorkshire | 1,426 | 74.5% | 21.7% | 3.7% |
| North West | 1,851 | 74.2% | 22.4% | 4.1% |
| East of England | 1,686 | 70.8% | 21.8% | 6.2% |
| West Midlands | 1,274 | 70.7% | 20.5% | 3.3% |
The North East Leads on Quality
The North East has the highest proportion of homes rated Good or Outstanding at 84.6%, combined with the joint-lowest decline rate (3.0%) and the highest improving rate of any region (25.1%). This is a relatively small care home market (790 homes), but the consistency is notable.
Several factors may contribute: the North East has a higher proportion of local authority-run or commissioned care, strong regional commissioning partnerships, and a smaller number of very large corporate providers compared to the South East or East of England.
London: High Ratings, Lower Improvement
London presents an interesting pattern. It has the second-highest Good+Outstanding rate (82.8%) and the joint-lowest decline rate (3.0%), yet its improving rate is the lowest of any region at 19.2%. This suggests London's care homes are generally maintaining good standards, but fewer are actively moving upward.
The London care market faces unique pressures — higher property costs, intense workforce competition, and greater cultural and linguistic diversity among residents and staff. These factors may make it harder for homes to achieve the step-change improvements seen elsewhere. You can explore care homes across the capital on our London care homes page.
East of England: The Highest Decline Rate
The East of England stands out for having the highest decline rate at 6.2% — nearly double some other regions. Combined with a relatively low Good+Outstanding rate (70.8%), this suggests a more challenging quality landscape.
The East of England covers a large, largely rural area with significant distances between population centres. Recruitment difficulties, an ageing care home estate, and lower local authority fee rates may all contribute. Families searching in this region should pay particularly close attention to trend data and inspection recency.
Browse our regional care home pages to see detailed data for your area.
Why Regional Differences Exist
The variation between regions is driven by a combination of factors:
- Workforce availability: Regions with lower unemployment and higher living costs struggle to recruit and retain care workers, directly affecting care quality.
- Local authority funding: The fees councils pay for care home placements vary significantly by region, affecting how much homes can invest in staffing and facilities.
- Provider mix: Some regions have a higher concentration of large corporate chains, while others have more independent homes. Neither model guarantees better quality, but the dynamics differ.
- Demographics: Areas with older populations and higher care needs may place greater pressure on existing capacity.
The Cities Where Care Is Changing
Zooming in further, individual cities show even more pronounced patterns of improvement and decline.
Cities With the Strongest Improvement
These cities have the highest proportion of care homes on an improving trajectory (minimum 50 homes to ensure statistical relevance):
| City | Total Homes | Improving | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doncaster | 86 | 27 | 31.4% |
| Manchester | 62 | 18 | 29.0% |
| Nuneaton | 74 | 21 | 28.4% |
| Preston | 150 | 41 | 27.3% |
| Norwich | 304 | 83 | 27.3% |
Doncaster leads the country with nearly a third of its care homes improving. What drives this? Local improvement often follows a pattern: CQC enforcement action or poor inspection results trigger management changes, new investment, or closer partnership with the local authority. The result is a cluster of homes actively working to raise their standards.
Manchester's strong showing (29.0% improving) is notable given the size and complexity of its care market. Norwich, with 304 homes and a 27.3% improving rate, represents a substantial regional improvement across a wide area.
Cities With the Highest Decline Rates
These cities have the highest proportion of homes moving in the wrong direction:
| City | Total Homes | Declining | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford | 79 | 11 | 13.9% |
| Pontefract | 59 | 8 | 13.6% |
| Colchester | 64 | 7 | 10.9% |
| Southampton | 118 | 10 | 8.5% |
| Lincoln | 130 | 10 | 7.7% |
Bedford and Pontefract stand out with decline rates above 13% — more than three times the national average of 4.2%. These are not large markets, so individual home closures or management failures can have an outsized statistical impact. But the pattern still warrants attention from families searching in these areas.
Colchester's decline rate (10.9%) aligns with the broader East of England trend we noted above. Southampton and Lincoln, while less extreme, are both above the national average and worth monitoring.
What Drives Local Change
Local improvement or decline is rarely random. The most common drivers include:
- Management changes: A new registered manager is often the single biggest predictor of quality change, in either direction.
- Ownership transfers: When a care home changes hands, there is typically a period of adjustment that can push quality up or down.
- CQC enforcement: Homes placed in special measures or given warning notices often show rapid improvement as they work to avoid closure.
- Workforce pressure: Local labour market conditions — particularly competition from NHS, retail, and hospitality — directly affect staffing levels and quality.
5 Signals That Matter More Than the Rating Alone
Our analysis of 14,599 homes reinforces something we have written about extensively: the overall CQC rating is a useful but incomplete measure of care quality. Here are five signals that tell you more.
1. Trend Direction
As the data above shows, knowing whether a home is improving, stable, or declining gives you critical context that the headline rating misses. A Requires Improvement home on an improving trajectory is often a better prospect than a Good-rated home that is quietly declining.
2. Time at Current Rating
A home that has been rated Good for eight consecutive years has demonstrated sustained quality. A home that received Good for the first time six months ago has not yet proven it can maintain that standard. Stability at a rating is itself a quality signal.
3. Individual Domain Ratings
The overall rating is calculated from five domains: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, and Well-Led. Research consistently shows that Safe and Well-Led are the most predictive of future quality. A home rated Good overall but Requires Improvement on Safe deserves closer scrutiny. A home rated Good overall with Outstanding on Well-Led is likely to maintain or improve its standards.
4. Registered Manager Presence
CQC data shows whether a home has a registered manager in post. Homes without a registered manager are significantly more likely to decline. It is one of the simplest and most reliable warning signs you can check.
5. Inspection Recency
Given that 42% of homes have not been inspected in over five years, a recent inspection is itself a positive signal — it means you are looking at current information. If a home was last inspected in 2020, treat the rating as a historical reference point, not a current guarantee.
For a deeper exploration of these quality indicators, read our full guide to quality signals beyond CQC ratings.
How to Use This Data When Choosing a Care Home
Knowing the national picture is useful context. But when you are actually choosing a home for your mum or dad, you need a practical approach. Here is how to apply what this data tells us.
Start With Trend, Not Rating
When comparing homes in your area, look at the direction of travel before the headline rating. A home moving from Requires Improvement to Good is demonstrating active investment in quality. A home that has been Good for years but recently declined in specific domains may be heading the other way. You can check trend data on individual care home pages on RightCareHome.
Cross-Reference With Financial Stability
Care quality and financial viability are linked. Homes under financial pressure often cut staffing levels, defer maintenance, and lose experienced managers — all of which drive quality downward. While financial data is harder to access than CQC ratings, Companies House filings for corporate providers and local authority contract information can provide useful signals.
Check Domain-Level Detail
Do not stop at the overall rating. Look at how a home performs across each of the five CQC domains. If you are concerned about a parent's physical safety, the Safe domain rating is more relevant than the Caring domain. If you want confidence in management stability, focus on Well-Led.
Prepare for Your Visit
Data analysis can narrow your shortlist, but visiting care homes remains essential. Go armed with specific questions based on what the data shows. If a home's trend is declining, ask what has changed. If it has not been inspected in five years, ask about any internal quality audits or local authority reviews. Our guide to questions to ask during a care home visit provides a structured checklist.
Get the Full Picture in One Place
Each care home page on RightCareHome brings together CQC ratings, trend direction, inspection history, and local context in a single view. If you are at the start of your search, our free care assessment matches you with homes based on your specific needs, budget, and location — not just a postcode search.
This analysis is based on CQC inspection data for all 14,599 registered care homes in England, processed in March 2026. Trend calculations compare each home's most recent inspection outcome with its previous inspection. Homes with only one inspection or with "Inspected but not rated" results are classified as having insufficient data for trend analysis. Regional classifications follow CQC's location hierarchy. City-level data is included only for locations with 50 or more registered homes to ensure statistical relevance.
If you are beginning your search for a care home, our free care assessment provides personalised recommendations based on your specific circumstances — including location, care needs, and budget.