A period of significant change
CQC has acknowledged that its assessment approach needs to improve. Independent reviews identified concerns about consistency, transparency and the pace of inspections. In response, CQC is undertaking a structured programme of piloting and testing its new assessment method. This runs between June and October 2026, with a final evaluation in November 2026.
For registered managers across all adult social care service types — care homes, domiciliary services, supported living and nursing homes — this is an important period to understand. Not because it changes what good care looks like. It does not. But because it changes some of the context in which your service will be assessed over the coming months.
This post sets out what is changing, what is not, and what your action list should look like right now.
What CQC has confirmed about the pilot programme
CQC published an update on 4 June 2026 confirming the following key details about its piloting and testing programme.
The pilot assessments will run alongside existing inspections, not instead of them. If your service is inspected during the pilot period, you may receive a pilot report in addition to the standard report produced under the current approach.
Participation in a pilot is voluntary. If a provider chooses not to take part, there will be no regulatory consequence. Pilot judgements have no legal standing and will not affect your regulatory status or rating.
The sample of providers in the pilot has been selected to reflect the diversity of the sectors CQC regulates. It covers different service types, sizes, ownership models, geographic locations and risk levels. This means the findings are intended to be as reliable and meaningful as possible when CQC evaluates the results in November 2026.
One of the specific things the pilot is designed to test is whether providers can clearly understand how ratings and judgements have been reached. This is a direct response to consistent feedback from providers that the current approach lacks transparency.
Beyond the process of piloting itself, CQC has also confirmed the substance of the new approach being tested. The CQC draft assessment framework for adult social care (2026) sets out 24 Key Lines of Enquiry, replacing the 34 quality statements of the Single Assessment Framework with a smaller, sector-specific set tailored to adult social care. This is tailored specifically to the sector, rather than shared generically across every type of provider CQC regulates. Numerical scoring is being removed from the assessment methodology entirely. Ratings will instead be made directly at key question level, based on professional judgement. This will be supported by a return of published rating characteristics, describing what Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement and Inadequate actually look like for each key question.
What is not changing
The five key questions, Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-Led, remain in place. The 34 quality statements introduced under the Single Assessment Framework in November 2023 continue to be the basis for assessment. The four ratings, Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement and Inadequate, are unchanged.
Existing inspections continue under the current approach throughout the pilot period. A service inspected between now and October 2026 will receive a standard CQC report and rating based on the current framework.
The fundamental regulatory requirements, including the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, are unchanged. The evidence CQC expects to see has not changed.
How to assess your readiness in this context
The pilot programme introduces a degree of uncertainty about what the assessment landscape will look like from late 2026 onwards. However, the most effective response to that uncertainty is exactly the same as it always has been. Build continuous compliance evidence across all five key questions.
Uncertainty about the framework is not a reason to wait. It is a reason to make sure your evidence already stands on its own.
There are three specific areas worth reviewing now.
Is your self-assessment accurate and current? Services that go into this period with a clear, accurate view of their compliance position are in the strongest position, whatever the assessment approach. A self-assessment that is mostly Green but has been inflated is a risk. A self-assessment with accurate Amber items and active action plans is evidence of good governance.
Is your evidence retrievable? One consistent theme in CQC's consultation and review activity is the importance of providers being able to demonstrate quality clearly and quickly. This is not just about having evidence. It is about being able to locate it, present it, and explain it under pressure. The evidence location practice, knowing exactly where every piece of evidence is and being able to retrieve it in under a minute, is more important than ever.
Are you following CQC updates? CQC will publish further information about the pilot findings and the new assessment approach as it is finalised. Make sure you are subscribed to CQC alerts and provider updates. The November 2026 evaluation is the point at which a clearer picture of the future framework will emerge.
How AlwaysReady supports you through this period
Your evidence structure is already aligned to the current framework. AlwaysReady is built around the five key questions and 24 Key Lines of Enquiry from the new draft framework. As the pilot programme concludes in November 2026, your evidence is already organised in a way that is directly compatible with the framework CQC is moving toward.
Build a clear, accurate self-assessment now. Use AlwaysReady to complete or update your self-assessment across all five key questions. Identify Amber and Red items, create action plans, and begin building the improvement evidence trail that will serve you well in any inspection, pilot or standard.
Use the evidence location system. For every document in AlwaysReady, record exactly where the original is held so that you can retrieve it in seconds. This is the kind of quiet confidence that defines services that perform well under any assessment approach.
Download the Annual Compliance Audit Calendar. It maps one audit focus per month across all five key questions, a free, printable habit that builds the continuous governance activity expected under whatever framework CQC adopts following its November 2026 evaluation. Download it here.
References and regulatory sources
- Care Quality Commission (2026). Piloting, testing and evaluation of new assessment method. Published 4 June 2026. Available at: cqc.org.uk
- Care Quality Commission (2026). Draft assessment framework — adult social care (v9). Available at: cqc.org.uk
- Care Quality Commission (2025). Better regulation, better care: consultation on improving how we assess and rate providers. Available at: cqc.org.uk
- Independent Review of CQC's Single Assessment Framework and its Implementation (October 2024). Available at: cqc.org.uk
- Care Quality Commission (2023). Single Assessment Framework for adult social care. Available at: cqc.org.uk
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.