Top 20 Group Care Home Awards frequently asked questions

Each year, carehome.co.uk gives out awards to the top 20 top-rated individual care home Groups across 3 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.

Who are the Top 20 Care Home Group Awards given to?

The Top 20 Care Home Group Awards are divided into three categories based on size. There is no ranking within each of the Top 20.

• Top 20 Large Care Home Groups (20+ group members)

• Top 20 Mid-Size Care Home Groups (10-19 group members)

• Top 20 Small Care Home Groups (2-9 group members)

Do our Adult Day Care Centres contribute to our group size?

Adult Day Care Centres, Extra Care Housing and Mental Health Hospitals do not contribute to the size of a care home group for our Care Home Awards. As an example, if a Group has 15 Care Homes and 5 Extra Care Housing settings within its group, it will be classed as a mid-size group based on the Care Homes alone for the Awards, even though there are 20 settings in total putting them in the large size group on our website.

We've bought 4 new homes, does that affect our group size for the awards?

If a Care Home Group purchase or sale is completed just before or after the published awards cut-off date and records are merged/split up, please be aware that this may affect the group score considerably which could mean you may no longer be eligible for an award and vice versa. We are not able to advise on the potential change to the review score for any such merger.

What do we win if we make it into the Top 20?

Winners will be eligible for the following:

• Awards winners’ logo displayed on their profile page

• Awards winners’ logo file for use on their own website or print materials

• Inclusion in the list of winners published on carehome.co.uk

• A framed certificate

• PR article in their local press, arranged by the carehome.co.uk News team

How do we enter the awards?

You do not need to enter or apply to be considered for the awards. As your group is listed on our website, and if you fulfil the eligibility criteria you may be in with a chance of winning a Top 20 award in your category.

How do we win a group award?

All care home groups listed on carehome.co.uk are automatically entered into the awards. Award winners must meet each of the following 3 criteria:

1) Have a group review score at the cut-off time of 11.59pm on Friday 31st January 2025 which might place them in the Top 20 for their group size in the UK.

The group review score is derived from the average of all the review scores of its members with a review score. 75%+ members of the group must have a review score before a group review score can be achieved. (Please note that the review score can change on the website at any time up to and after the award cut-off point).

2) Have at least 75% care homes in the group (i.e. a group consists of care homes and extra care housing, only care homes are eligible to be included in the count).

3) Have at least 75% regulatory-compliant homes within their group as per our specified criteria – click here.

How can we tell if our group is in the Top 20, leading up to the awards?

The Top 20 rankings are determined by review scores at 11.59 pm on 31st January 2025.  If you'd like to check your group’s rank before then, follow these steps:

1. Visit the homepage of carehome.co.uk and click on the “Groups/Owners” tab at the top of the page.

2. Select the size of your group from the “Filter by Number of Settings” box – choose from:

Large – 20+ Care Homes

Mid Size – 10-19 Care Homes

Small – 2 – 9 Care Homes

Then click ‘Done and Close”

3. In the ‘Sort by’ box, select "Review Score" not “Default” *

4. Count down the list to see where your group appears.

*Important Note:

“Default” search results don’t directly reflect your Top 20 ranking for the awards, as factors like subscription level can boost your group’s position beyond its review score.

What is the 2025 Awards cut-off date?

The 2025 Top 20 Care Home Awards cut-off date is Friday 31st January 2025.

We announce the winners later, approximately 2 weeks after the cut-off date. Individual care homes within the group may receive additional reviews during this time, affecting their review score and, in turn, your group review score.  However, the awards are based on the review score as of the published cut-off date only.

How will we find out if we've won an award?

Before winners are announced, the Reviews Quality Assurance team will conduct a series of checks to ensure that the potential winners meet all criteria and that published reviews have been submitted in accordance with our policy. We are not able to confirm a specific date on which winners will be announced as the duration of this process can vary, but we will aim to announce winners within 2 weeks of the cut-off date.

Winners will be notified by telephone and/or then by email. To ensure the right people in your organisation are notified, please ensure the contact details on your record are correct and up to date.

Where did we place on the winners' list?

Winners are displayed in alphabetical order. We do not announce placement results within the Top 20. The current review scores displayed on the website do not reflect the review scores at the time of the awards as scores can change at any time up to, and after the awards cut-off.

If, after our checks, 2 or more care home groups are tied in 20th position with the exact same review score (to 3 decimal places), all will win an award, resulting in more than 20 group winners.

Why didn’t we win a group award?

When a care home group with a Top 20 review score does not meet any or some of the criteria, it will not be eligible for an award. We will only exclude or remove an award from a care home group for the following reasons:

• They have less than 75% regulatory-compliant homes in the group.

• They have 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).

Why didn’t we win a group award when we have a higher review score than a group award winner?

Awards are determined by scores at the close of the cut-off date (31st January 2025) and can change at any time following this, as new reviews are published, or older reviews fall outside the score’s timeframe.  While your current score may now be higher than an award winner, at the close of 31st January 2025, your score did not place in the Top 20, and theirs did.

We won an award.  Why was it revoked?

If a care home is put into special measures within 12 months of the award cut-off date, the award will be removed from the profile page. If this action puts a care home group below the 75% requirement, the group award logo will be removed.

If, at any future stage, we discover a breach of our review policy that results in the removal of reviews that contributed to a group award, the award will be removed.