--- title: "Top 20 Families' Choice Awards - Frequently asked questions" slug: "top-20-care-home-awards-frequently-asked-questions" updated: 2026-10-29T16:11:11Z published: 2026-10-29T16:11:11Z canonical: "support.carehome.co.uk/top-20-care-home-awards-frequently-asked-questions" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.carehome.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Top 20 Families' Choice Awards - Frequently asked questions ## Introducing the Families' Choice Awards Our Top 20 Care Home Awards for individual care homes are now called the Families' Choice Awards. The new name reflects what makes these awards so special, they are based on the genuine experiences and opinions of residents, their families and friends. The people whose views matter most. While the name and design are changing, the way winners are selected remains exactly the same. Each year, [carehome.co.uk](http://carehome.co.uk) gives out awards to the top 20 top-rated individual care homes across 12 regions. The [carehome.co.uk](http://carehome.co.uk) Top 20 Families’ Choice 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 care home 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... ## What are the eligibility criteria? All care homes listed on [carehome.co.uk](http://carehome.co.uk) are automatically entered into the Top 20 Families’ Choice Awards. To qualify as a winner, care homes must meet **all** the following criteria: - Have a review score which might place them in the Top 20 in their region at 11.59 pm on the awards cut-off date. - Have 5 or more reviews published in the awards timeframe. - Be compliant with their regulatory authority as per our [specified criteria](https://support.carehome.co.uk/docs/awards-criteria-regulatory-authority-compliance) Adult Day Care Centres and Extra Care Housing are not eligible for an award. ## How do we enter the awards? You don’t need to apply. All care homes listed on [carehome.co.uk](http://carehome.co.uk) (excluding Adult Day Care Centres and Extra Care Housing) are automatically entered. ## Which regions are included? The UK is divided into 12 regions: - London - East of England - East Midlands - West Midlands - North East England - North West England - South West England - South East England - Yorkshire & The Humber - Scotland - Wales - Northern Ireland ## What do winners receive? Award winners receive: - An exclusive awards pack including stickers, balloons, pens and lanyards. - A Top 20 Winners’ logo on their [carehome.co.uk](http://carehome.co.uk) profile - A logo file for use on websites and printed materials - Inclusion in the winners list published on [carehome.co.uk](http://carehome.co.uk) - A framed certificate - A local PR article arranged by the [carehome.co.uk](http://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, 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. Go to [carehome.co.uk](http://carehome.co.uk) 2. Search for “All Care Homes” 3. Enter your region (e.g. South East England) 4. Sort results by Highest Review Score 5. Count down the list to see your position Important: Default search results and ranking data in your Portal may not reflect your awards ranking as they include elements such as subscription level. ## Why didn’t we win an award? You may not have won if: Your review score at the awards cut off point placed you outside the Top 20 in your region You had fewer than 5 published reviews in the awards timeframe You didn’t meet our regulatory authority criteria Reviews were removed during our post-awards checks (eg we discovered that reviews weren’t submitted in line with our policy or were submitted fraudulently) ## We have a higher score than an award winner - why didn’t we win too? Award rankings are based on 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 - Reviews contributing to the award are later removed due to policy breaches ## Will reviews be processed in time for the cut-off? Yes, if they are in ‘pre-processing’ by 4:00 pm on the cut-off day, all reviews will be processed. The number of reviews in pre-processing is shown in the Reviews Pending Publication section of your Portal. Please note, email reviews or scans/photocopies of cards are not accepted. ## What if a review was sent in the post but wasn’t processed? Only reviews in ‘pre-processing’ by 4:00 pm on the cut-off day will be processed that day. Others will be handled at the next available opportunity but won’t count towards the awards. ## What if there are processing queries on the cut-off day? Moderators will try to resolve queries by contacting reviewers or care providers at the point of processing. If resolved by 4:00 pm, the review will be updated to ‘Pending Publication’. ## Will all reviews be published in time for the awards cut-off? Where a review has the status ‘Pending Publication’ on cut-off day, **it’s the responsibility of the care provider to ensure it’s published via their Portal by 11:59 pm that day**. If this is not done, the review will not be published and will not count towards the review score. *Please note - we advise on cut-off day that you opt to Publish the review* ***without a reply*** *as replies submitted after 4pm will not be processed. You can add a reply at any point up to 6 months from the review submission date.*