Care tenders · 5 min read
Why your CQC rating decides the bid before you write a word
There is a category of tender that a provider cannot win no matter how well the submission is written. Recognising one early saves three weeks of management time, and it is usually your rating that decides it.
Ratings are used three different ways
Providers tend to think of the rating as one thing. Commissioners use it in at least three, and the difference matters.
- As a gate. The specification states a minimum rating for entry. Below it, your submission is not evaluated at all. This is common on residential and nursing frameworks.
- As a tier. You are admitted, but placed in a lower band that receives referrals only when the higher band has no capacity. A place on paper, very little work in practice.
- As a scored item. The rating contributes marks alongside your written answers. Recoverable with strong responses elsewhere.
The first two are the ones that end bids. Read the selection criteria for the word "must" near any mention of registration or rating.
The date the rating is measured
This catches people out. Most specifications assess your rating at the submission deadline, not at contract start. An inspection due next month does not help you, and a rating published two days after close does not count.
If you are mid-inspection or awaiting a report, say so in the bid where there is space to, but do not build the submission on the assumption it will land in time.
Check your profile the way an evaluator will
Assume the panel will open your Care Quality Commission (CQC) profile. Before you submit, look at it through their eyes.
- Every location that will deliver the contract. Ratings are given per registered location. If two locations will deliver the service, both ratings are in play.
- The five key question ratings, not just the overall one. An overall Good with Safe rated Requires Improvement will be noticed.
- The report date. An old rating is still your rating. If it predates a new registered manager or new premises, say what has changed and show the evidence.
- Your registration. The regulated activities listed, and any conditions attached.
- Your own website. By law you must display your latest rating on your website and at your premises within 21 calendar days of CQC publishing it, and CQC can prosecute for failing to. An evaluator who finds an out-of-date rating on your home page has a reason to doubt the rest of the bid.
When a report is due or disputed
What you can say in the bid depends on where the process has reached.
| Stage | What it means for the bid |
|---|---|
| Draft report received | You can send factual accuracy comments before it is published. The rating published at the submission deadline is still the one that counts. |
| Report published, rating review requested | You have 15 working days from publication to ask for a review. The only ground is that CQC did not follow its process for making ratings decisions. Disagreeing with its judgement is not a ground. The report stays published during the review. |
| Review concluded | Ratings can go down as well as up. Report the outcome, whichever way it goes. |
If the tender gives you space, state the facts in one sentence and move on to your improvement evidence. Do not present a rating review as a likely upgrade.
What Requires Improvement actually closes
Not everything. In our experience the pattern looks roughly like this, though it varies by authority.
| Provision | Typical position at Requires Improvement |
|---|---|
| Residential and nursing frameworks | Frequently a hard gate. Often excluded |
| Children's residential | Ofsted rather than CQC, and usually stricter still |
| Domiciliary care frameworks | Often admitted, sometimes tiered |
| Supported living and DPS routes | Usually admitted, rating scored not gated |
| NHS and ICB accreditation | Varies widely, read the specification |
If your rating is below Good
The submission has to do something different. Not defend the rating, and certainly not ignore it.
What scores is a clear account of what the finding was, what you did, when you did it, and what evidence shows it worked. Dates and documents. An action plan signed off in March, a re-audit in June, a specific measure that moved. Evaluators are not looking for a provider who has never had a problem. They are looking for one that fixes problems visibly and quickly, because that is what they will need from you during the contract.
Providers who write around the rating score worse than providers who address it directly. The panel already knows. Pretending otherwise reads as either dishonest or unaware, and neither helps.
Outside England, and a framework in transition
Wales and Scotland
Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) has published ratings for care homes and domiciliary support services since 1 April 2025. Services are rated Excellent, Good, Requires improvement or Requires significant improvement against themes including well-being, care and support, and leadership and management. In Scotland, the Care Inspectorate grades services on a six-point scale from Excellent to Unsatisfactory.
A gate written as "Good or above" means something different on each scale. If you operate in more than one nation, check each gate against the right regulator's rating, and ask a clarification question if the wording is unclear.
CQC's framework is changing
In March 2026, CQC confirmed that the five key questions and the four ratings will stay. It is removing scoring and replacing the quality statements of the single assessment framework with sector-specific key lines of enquiry and rating characteristics. It plans to start using the new frameworks from the end of 2026.
For bids, quote your ratings by key question, because those carry across. Avoid building an answer around quality statement scores, which will not appear in future reports.
Three questions providers ask
We are newly registered and have no rating. Can we bid?
Often, but read the gate carefully. "Must be rated Good or Outstanding" excludes you. "Must not be rated Requires Improvement or Inadequate" may not. If it is unclear, ask before the clarification deadline, then evidence quality another way: audits, feedback from people you support, and your registered manager's track record.
Our overall rating is Good, but one key question is Requires Improvement.
Treat that key question as the headline. Use the approach above: the finding, the action, the date and the evidence it worked.
Our locations have different ratings.
Bid from the location that will actually deliver the contract, and say clearly which one that is. Do not borrow a sister location's rating. If you are unsure whether a tender's gate applies to you, our tender fit check is a quick first test.
The commercial decision
If your rating gates you out of a framework, the correct answer is not to write a better bid. It is to not bid, spend the three weeks on the improvement work, and enter the next round from a position where the writing can actually decide the outcome.
That is an uncomfortable conversation for a bid writer to have, because it is a conversation about not being paid. We have it anyway, at the bid or no bid stage, before any fee is charged. A tender you cannot win costs you more than the fee: it costs you the management time you needed for the inspection response.
Got a tender with a deadline on it?
Send the closing date and the portal link. We'll tell you honestly whether it's worth your time, before you pay us anything.