Each year, carehome.co.uk gives out awards to the top 20 top-rated care home Groups across 4 categories.
The carehome.co.uk Top 20 Group award is a mark of excellence, serving as a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone in your organisation.
The awards highlight that your group has been one of the top-rated by residents/service users and their family or friends in the past year and show potential customers that you provide the highest quality of care and support.
Your questions answered...
How do we enter the awards?
You don’t need to apply. All groups listed on carehome.co.uk are automatically entered.
What are the eligibility criteria?
To win, a care home group must:
Have a group review score which might place them in the Top 20 in their category at 11.59 pm on the cut-off date
Have at least 75% care homes in the group (i.e. where a group consists of care homes and extra care housing, only care homes are eligible to be included in the count)
Have at least 75% regulatory-compliant homes within their group as per our specified criteria.
What are the 4 group categories?
Award winners are divided into 4 categories, according to their size:
Top 20 Large Care Home Groups 2026 (25+ Care Homes)
Top 20 Mid-Size Large Care Home Groups 2026 (13-24 Care Homes)
Top 20 Mid-Size Care Home Groups 2026 (7-12 Care Homes)
Top 20 Small Care Home Groups 2026 (2-6 Care Homes)
Do Adult Day Care Centres or Extra Care Housing contribute to a group’s size?
Adult Day Care Centres and Extra Care Housing are not eligible for awards and don’t count towards a care home group’s size. For example, a group with 15 Care Homes and 5 Extra Care settings will be classed as mid-size for the awards, even though it appears as a large group on our website due to all 20 settings.
We’ve bought 4 new homes, does that affect our group size for the awards?
If a Care Home Group is bought or sold around the awards cut-off date, and records are merged or split, this may significantly impact the group’s score and affect award eligibility. We’re unable to predict how such changes may influence review scores.
What do winners receive?
Award winners receive:
A Top 20 Winners’ logo on their carehome.co.uk profile
A logo file for use on websites and printed materials
Inclusion in the winners list published on carehome.co.uk
A framed certificate
A local PR article arranged by the carehome.co.uk News team
When are winners announced?
We aim to announce winners within approximately 2 weeks of the cut-off date, after thorough checks by the Reviews Quality Assurance team.
How will we know if we’ve won?
Winners are notified by telephone and/or email. We recommend making sure your contact details are up to date so that we can get good news to you as soon as possible.
Is there a ranking within the Top 20?
No. Winners are listed alphabetically within their category, not by score.
How can we check our ranking before the awards?
Rankings can change at any time up to, and after the awards cut-off. To check your current rank, follow these steps:
1. Visit the homepage of carehome.co.uk and click on the “Groups/Owners” tab at the top of the page.
Select the size of your group from the “Filter by Number of Settings” box – choose from:
Large Care Home Groups (25+ Care Homes)
Mid-Size Large Care Home Groups (13-24 Care Homes)
Mid-Size Care Home Groups (7-12 Care Homes)
Small Care Home Groups (2-6 Care Homes)
Then click ‘Done and Close”
2. In the ‘Sort by’ box, select "Review Score" not “Default” *
3. Count down the list to see where your group appears.
Important: Default search results and ranking data in your control panel may not reflect your awards ranking as they include elements such as subscription level.
Why didn’t we win a group award?
You may not have won if:
Your group review score at the awards cut off point placed you outside the Top 20 in your category
You had less than 75% regulatory-compliant homes in your group.
You had less than 75% of care home settings within the group.
During our post-awards checks, we discovered a breach of our review policy (e.g. we discovered fraudulent activity/reviews not submitted in accordance with our policy, which resulted in these reviews being removed).
We have a higher score than an award winner - why didn’t we win too?
Award rankings are based on group scores at 11:59 pm on the cut-off date. They are calculated to 3 decimal places and rounded to 1 decimal place on the website. Scores can change up to and after the cut-off, but only scores at the cut-off time count. Although you may now have a score that is higher than an award winner, their score was higher at the awards cut-off point.
Can an award be revoked?
Yes. Awards may be removed if:
A care home enters special measures within 12 months of the cut-off date, and this action puts a care home group below the 75% requirement.
Reviews contributing to the award are later removed due to policy breaches.