To register a new service with CQC, confirm the regulated activities you will carry on, get enhanced DBS checks, name a registered manager where one is required, prepare the supporting documents, and apply only when your locations and staff are ready. CQC describes its assessment as rigorous and says it can take several months, and an enhanced DBS check alone can take up to 60 working days.
Who has to register
Any individual, partnership or organisation that carries on a regulated activity in England must be registered with CQC, and doing it unregistered is an offence.1 Registration is granted only when applicants show they are fit and will comply with the regulations. CQC's scope guidance explains each regulated activity, and was updated on 27 August 2026 for treatment of disease, disorder or injury.2
The steps to register with CQC
- Confirm scope. Read CQC's scope of registration and decide which regulated activities you will carry on, at which locations.
- Get the enhanced DBS checks. An enhanced DBS with the right barred list check for your main point of contact and each registered person. It can take up to 60 working days, and checks over 12 months old are rejected.
- Name your registered manager. Organisations and partnerships, and individuals who will not run the activity day to day, need a registered manager who applies too.
- Prepare the supporting documents. The eleven documents every provider sends, from the statement of purpose to the safeguarding policy, plus any your service type adds.
- Make the premises ready. CQC visits most new services, and may refuse an application if premises are not suitable, for example if records cannot be kept safe and secure.
- Apply when everything is in place. CQC cannot hold applications that are not ready. Locations and staff should be ready to provide the service.
- Answer the assessment. CQC checks the forms and documents, may ask for more, may interview you and your registered manager, and visits where needed.
Each step is CQC's own.34 Incomplete applications, and documents that are out of date or not relevant to the service, are rejected at the first checks.56
Show you will meet the five key questions
CQC needs to establish that you will provide services that are safe, effective, caring, responsive to people's needs and well-led, and asks for evidence of it in the application.3 Write your documents as descriptions of the systems you will run, not as intentions.
| Key question | Show in your application |
|---|---|
| Safe | Safeguarding, infection control and medicines procedures, and who leads each |
| Effective | How consent is taken and recorded, and the guidance your care follows |
| Caring | How you will meet communication needs, including other languages |
| Responsive | How patients book, how fast they hear back, and how complaints are handled |
| Well-led | Governance, quality assurance and how records are kept secure |
How CQC decides an application
CQC sends either a Notice of Decision, granting registration, which lets you legally provide the care specified, or a Notice of Proposal to refuse or to add conditions you did not agree. You have 28 calendar days to make representations against a Notice of Proposal, and a right of appeal to the first-tier tribunal after the decision.7
- Regulated activities ______ Locations ______
- Enhanced DBS for each registered person, issued on ______
- Registered manager ______ Application sent on ______
- Eleven documents, each checked against CQC's guidance on ______
- Premises ready for a visit on ______
- Staff in post and trained on ______
Once registered, a newly registered service usually has all its quality statements assessed within 12 months.8 The systems you open with are the systems you will be rated on.
Questions
How long does CQC registration take?
CQC says its assessment is rigorous and can take several months, and the enhanced DBS check alone can take up to 60 working days, so allow for both.
Do I need a registered manager?
Organisations and partnerships do. An individual provider who runs the regulated activity day to day may not. CQC's guidance sets out when one is required.
Can I apply before the premises are ready?
No. Apply only when everything is in place, including locations and staff. CQC cannot hold applications that are not ready.
Sources
- 1CQC, 2025What is registrationRead source
- 2CQC, 2026Scope of registrationRead source
- 3CQC, 2026Register as a providerRead source
- 4CQC, 2026Assessing your applicationRead source
- 5CQC, 2026Supporting documents, documents everyone must sendRead source
- 6CQC, 2025DBS checks for CQC registrationRead source
- 7CQC, 2025Outcome of your applicationRead source
- 8CQC, 2025How we reach a ratingRead source
Written by the wai team from Care Quality Commission guidance, checked on 15 October 2026. This is guidance, not legal advice. CQC does not endorse wai or any software.