How badges and awards are decided

Last updated: 20th October 2026

Every badge and award on yourcarehome.co.uk is calculated from data we hold, using the rules below: regulator inspection ratings, family reviews, and enquiry activity. There is no editorial panel. No badge can be earned by paying. Some badges display only on listings with a paid plan; section 8 says which. This page sets out the exact criteria. The summary version lives on our badges page.

1. Where ratings come from

Inspection ratings belong to the UK care regulators: the Care Quality Commission in England, the Care Inspectorate in Scotland, Care Inspectorate Wales, and the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority in Northern Ireland. We display them; we never alter them, and payment never changes them. RQIA does not publish ratings, and neither do the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey, so services there are never given an invented rating. Instead, Northern Ireland services can carry an Inspected badge (an RQIA inspection within the last 24 months) and island services a Registered badge (a current registration), and every service everywhere can earn review badges.

2. The review score

A listing’s review score is the average of all its published reviews on this site, shown to one decimal place, alongside the number of reviews it is based on. There is no time window and no weighting: every published review counts equally. A listing needs at least one published review to show a score. The review spotlight shows the most recent review of four stars or more that says enough to be useful (at least 40 characters of text), so a listing’s newest substantial positive review is what visitors see quoted.

3. Rating badges

The Outstanding badge goes to listings whose current rating sits in the top band: Outstanding from the CQC, grade 6 from the Care Inspectorate, or Excellent from CIW. The Good badge covers the next band: Good from the CQC, grades 4 to 5 from the Care Inspectorate, or Good from CIW. Where a regulator grades several themes, the lowest theme decides the band, so a single weak area is never hidden by strong ones. These badges refresh nightly from the latest regulator data.

4. Review awards

• Five Star Reviews: at least one five-star review and an overall average of 4.0 or higher.
• Gold review award: at least 5 reviews averaging 4.5 or higher.
• Platinum review award: at least 12 reviews averaging 4.7 or higher.

These are recalculated nightly from published reviews.

5. Top Rated in your area (annual)

Once a year we rank listings within each area, in this order: regulator rating band first, then average review score, then number of reviews. Listings are only ever compared with others in the same area, never across nations, because each nation’s regulator uses its own scale. Tied listings share a place, and a tied group only receives the award if the whole group fits within the places available; we never invent a tiebreaker.

6. Top 20 UK Group (annual)

Provider groups with at least 3 listed services qualify when at least half of their services contribute a result (a Good or Outstanding band, or at least one review). A group’s score is the average of its contributing services’ scores. Groups compete in two size bands, small (3 to 9 contributing services) and large (10 or more), with a top 20 in each band for each of care homes and home care. Councils and other public bodies are not ranked in this award. When a group wins, every service in the group carries the badge.

7. Most Enquired (quarterly)

Each quarter, the three listings in a town that received the most enquiries through the site in the previous quarter earn the Most Enquired award. A town needs at least 3 listings receiving enquiries for the award to run, and a listing needs at least 3 enquiries to qualify. Saving a home to a shortlist does not count as an enquiry.

8. What payment changes, and what it never changes

Payment never changes a rating, a review, a score or any criterion on this page. The Claimed badge is free and shows that the provider manages its listing. The Approved badge reflects an active paid plan and says so plainly. Three awards, Gold, Platinum and Most Enquired, display only on listings with an active paid plan; the criteria above still have to be met, and paying without meeting them earns nothing. Every other badge on this page is free for any listing that earns it.

9. Changes to this page

If we change how a badge or award is decided, we update this page at the same time. The version published on the site applies.