Registering a new care service with CQC: a step-by-step timeline

From deciding your regulated activities to your registration interview, here is the realistic order of work for a new provider.

Before you apply

Decide exactly which regulated activities you will carry out. Personal care, accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care, and treatment of disease, disorder or injury are the most common. Applying for an activity you will not deliver slows everything down.

Set up your legal entity and obtain a DBS check for every director and the nominated individual. Request your countersigned DBS through CQC's process — a standard check from another route is not accepted.

Building your application

Your Statement of Purpose is the spine of the application. It must state your aims, the services you provide, where, for whom, and who is legally responsible. Every policy you write should be consistent with it.

You will need a full policy suite before you submit. Inspectors read the Statement of Purpose first and then check whether your policies match what you claim to do.

The registration interview

Every registered manager applicant is interviewed. Expect questions on:

The fundamental standards and how you will meet them
Safeguarding, whistleblowing and duty of candour
How you will recruit safely and manage staff performance
What you would do in the first 90 days after registration

Practice matters. Our AI mock interview scores your answers against the same competencies inspectors use.

Realistic timescales

Allow 10–12 weeks from a complete submission to a decision. Incomplete applications are returned, so use the Start-up Roadmap on this site to check every requirement before you press submit.