The guide
Yes, but mostly as a filter rather than the deciding factor. A CQC rating of Good or better, or a Care Inspectorate grade of 4 Good and above, tends to keep a home on a family's shortlist; what usually wins the enquiry is reputation, reviews and how clearly the family can picture daily life in the home.
Updated November 2026
What to know, in brief:
Where it counts
Rarely on its own. Care England and Log my Care's 2026 survey of 1,000 people arranging care found 19 per cent used inspection reports such as CQC ratings during their research, and 11 per cent named them a key factor in the final decision. Reputation came top at 30 per cent, followed by safety and safeguarding at 29 per cent.
At the decision
Once a home is on the shortlist, the questions change: what is it like to live there, who are the staff, and how do other families describe it. A single word or number cannot answer those.
England and Scotland
They measure similar things in different ways, so families see different labels. The CQC gives one of four words; the Care Inspectorate grades services on a six-point scale, from 1 Unsatisfactory to 6 Excellent. We work with homes in both countries, and the marketing advice is the same in each.
| CQC (England) | Care Inspectorate (Scotland) | |
|---|---|---|
| What families see | One of four words: Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement, Inadequate | A number from 1 to 6, from Unsatisfactory to Excellent, for each area inspected |
| The shortlist line | Good or better | 4 Good or better; 5 Very good and 6 Excellent stand out |
| Where it shows | The home's own website and premises, directories, the CQC site | The Care Inspectorate site, directories, often the home's own website |
| Display rules | Regulation 20A: rating, date and report link on the website and at the home | Reports are public; homes choose how they present grades |
Wales and Northern Ireland have their own regulators and labels; the same principle applies there.
The numbers
The rating describes the day of the inspection, which may be years ago, so families need recent evidence alongside it. For many homes, a family is reading about a team, a manager and a building that have since changed.
The answer is not to argue with the regulator. It is to put current evidence beside the rating. Sources: Care Inspections UK analysis, reported by LocalGov, Care England and Log my Care and carehome.co.uk's 2026 reviews report.
In practice
Display the rating honestly, then match what you show families to the question the rating leaves open.
The rating has done its job of keeping the home on the shortlist. Use it plainly and let reviews and film do the persuading.
Families may wonder what has changed. Lead with recent evidence: this year's reviews, a current manager introduction, today's photographs.
A family will want to know what was found and what happened next. Say it on the website in plain words, with what has been done since.
Worth knowing: silence reads worse than an honest account.
There is no rating to lean on, so everything else matters more: reviews as they arrive, a clear introduction to the manager and team, and an open invitation to visit.
In your marketing
On the website and the directory profile, clearly and with its date, but not as the headline of every advert. In England the website display is a legal requirement under Regulation 20A. Our guide to what a care home website should include covers where it belongs on the page.
The rating answers one question, whether the regulator was satisfied on the day. A family usually arrives with several: will their relative be comfortable, who will they speak to, how do people settle in. A family testimonial or a manager film answers those in a way a single word or number cannot, which is why we build campaigns around them rather than around the rating.
Timing and fit
The rating itself only changes at the next inspection, which the home does not schedule, but what surrounds it can change this month. Reviews, film, photographs and a clear website are all within the home's control and can be in place within weeks. The work involved is time and production rather than anything technical; what it costs depends on who does it, and we walk through our own model on a call.
Homes whose rating is old, below Good, or not yet given, and any home that relies heavily on directory enquiries. On a directory, the rating sits right beside the home's name, so it carries more weight at the comparison stage than it does once a family has visited. For the wider picture, see why families may not be finding your care home online, and on reviews specifically, which online reviews actually count.
Common questions
Yes, but mostly as a filter rather than the deciding factor. In Care England and Log my Care's 2026 survey of 1,000 people arranging care, 19 per cent used inspection reports during research and 11 per cent named them a key factor in the final decision, while reputation came top at 30 per cent.
Broadly, yes. The Care Inspectorate grades services on a six-point scale from 1 Unsatisfactory to 6 Excellent, so families in Scotland see numbers rather than words. A grade of 4 Good or above tends to keep a home on the shortlist, and the same advice applies: show what the grade cannot.
Yes, in England. Regulation 20A requires providers to display their most recent CQC rating on their website, with the date it was given and a link to the report, as well as on a sign at the home itself.
It is a common position. An analysis by Care Inspections UK found 5,429 of England's 13,475 registered care homes had not had a full CQC inspection since February 2021. Display the rating as required, then give families recent evidence alongside it: reviews, a family testimonial film, and an honest account of what has changed.
Marketing cannot change a rating, and it should never try to hide one. What it can do is help a home explain, plainly, what the inspection found and what has been done since, so a family weighing the home has the full picture rather than a single word.
Keep reading
The order families look in, and the signals that build or lose trust.
Do online reviews matter for a care home?Which reviews count and what they do for a family's decision.
Why families are not finding your homeThe wider guide to online visibility this one sits within.
