How Often Are CQC Inspections? What Decides It and How Long They Take (2026)

How Often Are CQC Inspections? What Decides It and How Long They Take (2026)

CQC no longer works to a fixed inspection cycle. Here is how it decides when to assess, what it says about announced and unannounced visits, what it is prioritising in adult social care in 2026, what can bring a visit forward and how to check where your service stands.

CQC does not inspect on a fixed timetable. It says the frequency of assessments depends on the information and evidence it holds, and your next assessment will be either planned (ordered by risk) or responsive (triggered by concerning information). In 2026 CQC is prioritising, in adult social care, services with urgent risks, services never assessed and services with a rating over 6 years old, so how long ago you were last rated matters more than the rating itself. Most care home inspections are unannounced; visits to home care and supported living services are more often announced a few days ahead.

For years, providers planned around rough re-inspection windows: about every 12 months for Requires Improvement and about two years for Good. Those were targets under the old model, not legal deadlines, and CQC no longer works to them. This guide explains how CQC decides who to assess and when, how visits are announced, what it has said about 2026, what can bring a visit forward, roughly how long a visit lasts and how to find out where your own service stands.

Does CQC Have a Fixed Inspection Schedule?

No. CQC’s guidance on how often it assesses services says the frequency of assessments depends on the information it receives and the evidence it collects. It says your next assessment will be either planned or responsive, that its approach is informed by risk, and that it will decide the order of planned assessments based on the level of risk (CQC: How often we assess, page last updated 12 November 2025). CQC also says it will publish a more detailed schedule for planned assessments once new frequencies are decided.

So the older rules of thumb, such as Good roughly every two years, are best read as history. Providers and commentators still quote them, and CQC’s own approach has since moved to a risk-based model.

The “old target” column reflects widely reported historic aims (for example as summarised by Birdie), which were aspirations rather than guarantees. It is not a CQC commitment today.

Are CQC Inspections Announced or Unannounced?

CQC says it carries out two types of inspection that involve a site visit: unannounced, where it does not tell the service before arriving, and announced, where it tells the service a few days before. It says the majority of inspections are unannounced (CQC: What to expect during an inspection, page last updated 26 June 2026).

Planned vs Responsive Assessments

• Planned assessments are scheduled by CQC, with the order set by risk. CQC says it will define a set of priority quality statements for each type of service and typically assess those in each assessment, while staying flexible. It plans to set the priorities and review them annually as a minimum.
• Responsive assessments follow concerning information CQC has received, so they can happen soon after regardless of how recently you were rated.

An assessment does not have to cover everything. CQC can look at particular quality statements or key questions and still change the related ratings. For what the framework is being replaced with, see CQC’s new assessment framework for 2026.

CQC’s 2026 Priorities for Adult Social Care

On 26 May 2026 CQC published an update on how it is prioritising activity to carry out more assessments and to tackle aged ratings and services never assessed. It says it is on track to publish reports for at least 9,000 assessments across all sectors by September 2026. For adult social care it lists these priorities (CQC: Priorities for delivering more assessments and tackling aged ratings):

• Services with urgent, emerging risks identified by inspection teams.
• Services not assessed since registration where its data identifies very high risk.
• Services registered for over a year that have not yet been assessed.
• Services with a rating over 6 years old.

CQC adds that it cannot say when it will assess an individual service, but the sector priorities give an indication.

What “Returning to Good” Means for You

CQC also runs a programme returning to adult social care services rated Good, to confirm whether the rating is still accurate. According to its page (updated 30 July 2026), it returns to services that meet all of these (CQC: Returning to good adult social care services):

It applies to care homes (including residential and nursing), supported living and home care. These assessments focus more on people’s experiences and outcomes, supported by observation and proportionate record checks, and assess 18 quality statements rather than all of them. Reports are more concise. If concerns arise, CQC says it reverts to its usual assessment approach and report.

What Can Bring an Assessment Forward?

CQC’s responsive route means concerning information can move you up regardless of your rating or when you were last seen. The kinds of information commonly cited include:

• Complaints and concerns raised with CQC or with your service.
• Whistleblowing from staff or professionals.
• Statutory notifications, including serious incidents and safeguarding events. See our list of notifiable events.
• Safeguarding referrals and intelligence from local authorities and other partners.
• Enforcement follow-up after a previous assessment, including checking whether improvements were made (see what happens at a re-inspection).
• Change of registration, for example a new manager or provider (see change of registered manager).

CQC says it collects evidence on an ongoing basis, so what is on your profile page may not reflect its current view of risk.

Types of CQC Inspection

People use “types of inspection” for three different things. CQC’s own terms are the first two; the third is how commentators often describe scope.

How Long Do CQC Inspections Take?

CQC does not set one duration, because it depends on the service, its size and the type of assessment. What CQC does describe is what its team does during a visit: it talks to staff, speaks to people and relatives, observes everyday interactions and, for home care, phones people or asks consent to visit them in their homes (CQC: What to expect during an inspection). It also checks that staffing rotas match who is on duty. One care home guide says a visit usually lasts one to two working days for a care home, which is a reasonable planning assumption but not a CQC statement. CQC gathers evidence from other sources before and after a visit, and reports follow later.

The Backlog: Why Many Services Have Waited Years

Many providers have gone years without an assessment since CQC’s disruption after moving to its single assessment framework. The Homecare Association’s September 2025 report, as summarised by Birdie, found 70.3% of community social care providers had either never been rated (33.5%) or held a rating four or more years old (36.8%). In 2026, CQC has said it wants to increase assessment volumes and is targeting aged ratings and services never assessed.

• A rating that is several years old is not a sign CQC has forgotten you. It is now an explicit priority criterion.
• A newly registered service that has not yet had an assessment is also a priority once registered for over a year.
• Waiting does not lower your risk of a visit. It just means the visit may arrive with less notice on your side.

How to Check When You Were Last Assessed

• Search for your service on CQC’s Find care services and open its profile page. (See how to check a provider’s CQC registration.)
• Note the date of your latest report and the date your current rating was published.
• Work out how old the rating is: over 6 years puts you on CQC’s adult social care priority list.
• Check whether you meet the “returning to good” criteria above, because that affects the style of assessment you could get.
• Check that your registered manager, provider and location details are correct. Your Location ID is in the web address of your CQC page.

What to Do When You Cannot Predict the Date

Because a visit can arrive with little warning, the useful planning question is not “when?” but “what would an assessor see today?”. A good starting point:

• Keep statutory notifications up to date. Missing ones are a problem in themselves.
• Run a mock check against the areas CQC assesses most. Use our free mock inspection template and audit pack; see also how to prepare for a CQC inspection and the inspection day checklist.
• If you already have actions from a report or a provider self-review, keep them owned and dated. See how to improve your CQC rating and what a Requires Improvement rating means.
• Prepare staff for what inspectors ask; see how to prepare staff for a CQC inspection.
• Have your evidence organised so it can be produced quickly when CQC asks.

Sources and how this was checked

• CQC: How often we assess (page last updated 12 November 2025).
• CQC: Priorities for delivering more assessments and tackling aged ratings (26 May 2026).
• CQC: Returning to good adult social care services (page last updated 30 July 2026).
• CQC: Care workers’ guide, what to expect during an inspection (page last updated 26 June 2026).

Pages re-read on 24 October 2026. Old frequency targets and the Homecare Association figures are as summarised by Birdie and are context, not CQC statements. The planning assumption for visit length is from one care home guide, not CQC.