CQC inspections: who's next and what's changing

Where CQC's rebuild stands

CQC has been rebuilding how it regulates following the reviews by Dr Penny Dash and Professor Sir Mike Richards. Its most recent update, on 27 August 2026, said its Board had approved plans to rebuild its regulatory approach and digital services. The programme includes:

rebuilding core digital services, including the provider portal;
new sector-specific assessment frameworks, guidance and methods;
better quality and use of regulatory data;
more efficient and consistent assessment and registration processes.

CQC acknowledged that providers have faced delays and inconsistency, and ratings "that may not reflect current performance". It also said it will explore how technologies such as artificial intelligence could reduce delays, with any use subject to governance and transparency.

The pilots

CQC's June update set out a structured programme of pilots and testing of the draft frameworks from June to October 2026, with final evaluation in November 2026. Key points:

pilots run alongside existing inspections, not instead of them;
taking part is voluntary, with no regulatory consequence for saying no;
pilot providers get a pilot report alongside their standard report, but pilot judgements have no legal standing and do not affect ratings;
the pilots specifically test whether providers can understand how ratings and judgements were reached.

In August, CQC said it planned sector-specific engagement in the autumn to look at parts of the frameworks, guidance and methods in more detail. It has not yet published a go-live date for adult social care.

Who CQC is prioritising in adult social care

In May, CQC set out how it is choosing which services to assess first. For adult social care, the priorities are:

services with urgent, emerging risks identified by inspection teams;
services not assessed since registration that CQC's data flags as very high risk;
services registered for over a year that have not yet been assessed;
services with a rating more than 6 years old.

CQC also said it would roll out a more proportionate approach for some adult social care services. It covers services rated good in all five key questions, with a registered manager, ratings over 6 years old, no significant risk in CQC's data and no ongoing enforcement. These assessments focus on people's experiences and outcomes, using observation and a targeted, risk-based review of records. If concerns come up during planning, CQC reverts to its usual approach.

CQC says it cannot say when an individual service will be assessed, but the priorities give an indication.

What this means for your service

Work out where you sit in the queue. If you have never been assessed, have been registered for over a year, or your rating is more than 6 years old, expect contact sooner rather than later.
If you're rated good with an old rating, you may get the proportionate approach. It leans on observation and people's experiences, so make sure staff can explain how they support people, and that your records back that up.
Keep using today's guidance. The new frameworks are still being piloted. Until CQC confirms a go-live date, prepare against the current published approach.
Keep a registered manager in post. Having one is a condition for the lighter-touch route.
Watch for the November evaluation and any adult social care go-live date. We will report when CQC publishes them.

Sources

Care Quality Commission, Rebuilding our regulatory approach and digital services (27 Aug 2026): https://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/improving-how-we-work/0826-update (checked 27 Oct 2026)
Care Quality Commission, Piloting, testing and evaluation of new assessment method (4 Jun 2026): https://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/improving-how-we-work/0626-update (checked 27 Oct 2026)
Care Quality Commission, Priorities for delivering more assessments and tackling aged ratings (26 May 2026): https://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/improving-how-we-work/0526-update (checked 27 Oct 2026)
Care Quality Commission, Improving how we work (updates index): https://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/improving-how-we-work (checked 27 Oct 2026)

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