The new CQC single assessment framework, explained

CQC is moving from periodic inspections to a single assessment framework with ongoing scoring and quality statements. What changes for the ratings you see, and why you may see a mix.

Published 2026-06-16 · A general guide, not legal, medical or financial advice.

For years the CQC worked mainly through periodic inspections: a team visited a service, wrote a report, and published a rating that then stood until the next visit, which might be years away. It is now moving to a "single assessment framework" that aims to gather evidence more continuously. The four ratings and the five key questions stay the same, but how a rating is reached has changed, and that is why the ratings you see can look inconsistent at the moment.

What is new

• Quality statements: instead of long descriptive standards, the framework is built around short "we statements" describing what good care looks like, for example on safeguarding, on involving people in decisions, or on having enough suitably trained staff.
• Continuous evidence: CQC draws on data, on feedback from people who use services and their families, on statutory notifications providers must send, and on site visits, rather than relying on a single inspection day.
• Percentage scores: newer assessments carry a percentage score behind each key question, which shows how close a service is to the next rating band, not just the word rating.
• Ratings can move between full visits: a rating can in principle be updated as new evidence arrives, rather than only after a complete re-inspection.

Why you will see a mix of eras

The change has been rolled out gradually and has not been without difficulty, with criticism of the new IT systems and of how quickly assessments were being done. As a result, at any given moment some services carry a rating produced under the previous framework and others under the new one. That is normal and expected. CareRadar shows whichever rating is current for each service, indicates which era it came from, and displays the percentage scores where they exist.

What the percentage scores add

Where they are present, percentage scores give you a finer picture than the word alone. A service rated Good at the top of the band is in a stronger position than one rated Good just above the line, even though both show the same word. Likewise, a Requires improvement that is close to Good reads differently from one close to Inadequate. Treat the score as extra detail that helps you compare two similar services, not as a precise mark.

What it means for you

• A newer assessment with percentage scores lets you compare two "Good" services more finely.
• An older-framework rating is not worse, just produced differently. Check its date as you always would.
• The messiness of the transition is itself a reason to read the report and to visit, rather than relying on any single number.

CQC's own website explains the framework, the quality statements and the scoring in full, and is the place to go for the detail. CareRadar's job is to make the current rating, its history and its scores easy to find, compare and track across services, so you can see not only where a service stands but how it got there.