Badges & Awards
YourCareHome awards badges to recognise regulator ratings, family reviews and engagement across UK care homes and home care services. There's no editorial panel. Every badge is calculated from data we hold.
For every listing
Free to add to your own website, whatever your plan.
Review score
Your live family review score, on your own website
A wide banner showing the service's current review score, star rating and number of family reviews on YourCareHome. The score updates automatically as new reviews are published.
Latest family review
Real review words, on your own website
A wide banner showing a recent family review of the service on YourCareHome, with its star rating and date. The review shown updates automatically as families publish new reviews.
Review us on YourCareHome
Invite families to share their experience
A badge any provider can add to its website, inviting families to leave a review of the service on YourCareHome. Reviews help other families choose, and they count towards the review badges below.
Find us on YourCareHome
Every listing carries this badge
Every care home and home care service listed on YourCareHome carries this badge. It links back to the full listing, with regulator ratings, reviews and contact details.
Registered
On the local register of care services
Shown on services in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey, confirming the service is on its island register. These islands do not publish inspection ratings, so no rating badge is shown for them.
Recently inspected
Inspected by RQIA within the last two years
Shown on services in Northern Ireland that RQIA has inspected within the last two years. RQIA publishes inspection reports rather than ratings, so no rating badge is shown for Northern Ireland.
Ratings and awards
Earned from regulator ratings and family reviews. They cannot be bought.
Top rated by the regulator
The highest rating available at the most recent inspection
Given to services that received the highest rating available from their regulator (Outstanding from the Care Quality Commission in England, or the equivalent top grade from the Care Inspectorate in Scotland or Care Inspectorate Wales) at their most recent inspection.
Rated Good by the regulator
A Good rating, or the equivalent, at the most recent inspection
Given to services rated Good by the Care Quality Commission in England, or the equivalent grade from the Care Inspectorate in Scotland or Care Inspectorate Wales, at their most recent inspection.
Top rated in the area
One of the highest rated services in its town or county
Given each year to the highest rated services in a town or county, based on regulator ratings and family reviews together. See the methodology below for how places and rankings are worked out.
Top 20 UK care group
One of the twenty highest rated groups in the UK
Awarded each year to the twenty highest rated small and large care home and home care groups in the UK, based on the ratings and family reviews of every home in the group. Every home in a winning group carries the badge.
Five-star reviewed
Rated five stars by families on YourCareHome
Given to services that families have rated five stars in a published review on YourCareHome.
With a claimed or upgraded listing
Part of claiming your page, or of an upgraded plan.
Claimed
Managed directly by the provider
Given to listings the provider has claimed. It shows the person managing this page has confirmed they run the service, so enquiries and any edits go to them rather than sitting unclaimed. This describes who manages the listing, not the safety of the service. See the individual regulator badges for that, and YCH Approved for our identity and regulator-record checks on Advanced listings.
YCH Approved
Claimed, approved and on an active paid plan
Verified means the operator has claimed this listing, confirmed their email address, had the claim approved, and holds an active paid plan. It is not an assessment of care quality.
Gold Reviews
Highly rated by families on YourCareHome
Care homes with consistently strong family reviews on YourCareHome, awarded for high review scores across a meaningful number of reviews.
Platinum Reviews
Exceptional family reviews on YourCareHome
The highest review tier, awarded to care homes that maintain an exceptional average review rating across a substantial number of family reviews.
Most Enquired
Among the most contacted services in your town this quarter
Quarterly award based on real family enquiries (book a tour, send an email, request a brochure) submitted through YourCareHome. Shortlist saves aren't counted. Awarded to the three most-enquired-about services in each eligible town.
How badges are decided
Every badge on YourCareHome is calculated automatically from data we hold: regulator inspection ratings, family reviews, and, for Approved and the quarterly awards, an active paid plan. There is no editorial panel.
Regulator bands
Ratings are grouped by how each nation's regulator grades services: Outstanding from the Care Quality Commission in England, or the equivalent top grade from the Care Inspectorate in Scotland or Care Inspectorate Wales, counts as the top band. Good, or its equivalent, counts as the next band. Northern Ireland's regulator, RQIA, does not publish a rating, so services there are never given a rating badge. The Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey do not publish inspection ratings either, so services there carry registration badges instead, and every service can earn review badges.
How the area awards are ranked
Top-rated-in-area awards are worked out in this order: regulator rating band first, then a service's average family review score on YourCareHome, then how many reviews it has. Services with exactly the same result share a joint place, and a tied group only receives the award if the whole group fits within the number of places available. We never invent a tiebreaker. Where every eligible service in an area is tied, no ranked award is made there that year, and each service's own rating badge still stands.
What a paid plan changes
Regulator, review and area awards cannot be bought and are not affected by whether a listing has a paid plan. Approved, the Gold and Platinum review awards and the quarterly Most Enquired award are part of an active paid plan; every other badge on this page is free.
Read the full methodology, with the exact criteria for every badge and award