Registering and inspecting care services

Find out how we register and inspect care services.

We register people who want to run care services for adults, for example care homes and home care agencies.

We check whether they meet legal requirements. For example, if the owner or manager of a service has a criminal record, we can refuse to give them a registration certificate. We make information about all registered services available to the public.

We inspect adult social care services against national minimum standards set by the Government.

Find out more

• Registration
• Quality ratings
• Different types of inspection
• Before an inspection
• During an inspection
• Inspection reports
• An inspector's story

Inspecting for Better Lives

The inspection system we use is called Inspecting for better lives.

It puts people who use care services and their views at the heart of how we judge the quality of services. 

Quality ratings

In 2008 we introduced quality rating for all care providers, ranging from zero stars (poor) to three stars (excellent).

This easy to understand rating system allows people to compare services and choose the right one for them.