CQC quality statements explained
Reviewed September 2026 · Written by Complys and checked against CQC's published guidance (sources below).
A note before you read: CQC's assessment framework — including how quality statements are worded, counted and scored — has been through significant review and continues to change. This guide explains the concept and how it fits with the parts of CQC's approach that have stayed stable, but you should always check CQC's own current guidance for exactly how the framework applies to your service now. We have deliberately avoided leaning on any detail likely to date.
If the five key questions are the headings CQC uses to judge a service, quality statements were introduced to fill in the detail beneath them — to say, more concretely, what good actually looks like. They are usually called "we statements" because they are written from the point of view of a service making a commitment: short, plain sentences such as "we work in partnership with people" or "we make sure people are safe". This guide explains what they are, how they sit under the five key questions and alongside the fundamental standards, and — most usefully given how much the framework has moved — how to prepare in a way that holds up whatever the exact wording turns out to be.
The idea behind quality statements
The five key questions are deliberately broad. "Is the service safe?" is the right question to ask, but on its own it does not tell a provider precisely what to demonstrate. Quality statements were CQC's attempt to close that gap — to express each key question as a set of specific, person-centred commitments that describe good care in concrete terms. Written as "we statements", they were also intended to shift the emphasis towards outcomes and the experience of people using the service, rather than a checklist of processes. The ambition was a framework that felt less like an audit and more like a description of what a genuinely good service does.
How they sit under the five key questions
The structure is straightforward in principle: every quality statement belongs to one of the five key questions. The questions are the enduring chapters — Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, Well-led — and the statements are the sections within each. So under Safe you would find statements about protecting people from harm and managing risk; under Caring, statements about kindness, dignity and involving people; under Well-led, statements about leadership, governance and a positive culture. This is the part of the model most worth holding onto, because it maps directly onto the five questions that are not going anywhere.
Statements, standards and the law
It is worth being clear about how quality statements differ from the fundamental standards, because the two are easily confused. The fundamental standards are legal requirements set out in the 2014 Regulations — the floor below which care must never fall, enforceable in law. Quality statements are part of CQC's assessment framework: they are how CQC describes and looks at quality, not free-standing legislation. In substance they overlap heavily, because a service that meets the standards will largely meet the expectations the statements describe. But if you are ever unsure which carries legal force, it is the fundamental standards — and that is exactly why they make a safer foundation to build on than a framework layer that can be rewritten.
Why we have kept the detail light
You may have seen the quality statements described with a precise number and exact wording. We have deliberately not anchored this guide to those specifics, and it is worth explaining why. CQC's single assessment framework, and the way quality statements are used and scored within it, has been the subject of substantial independent review and change. Reproducing a fixed list here would risk telling you something that is already out of date by the time you read it — and building your service around a volatile detail is a poor use of your effort. The honest, useful thing to do is to point you to CQC's own current guidance for the live wording, and to spend the rest of this guide on the part that does not change: how to be ready whatever the framework says.
How to prepare in a way that lasts
The trick to staying ready through framework changes is to build on the stable ground and treat the movable parts as a lens, not a foundation. In practice that means three things. First, run your service against the five key questions — they are the constant, and any version of the quality statements will map onto them. Second, meet the fundamental standards, because they are the law and they change far more slowly. Third, keep your evidence current, specific and organised, so that whatever the exact expectations are on the day, you can show you meet them. A service built this way does not have to scramble every time CQC refines its framework, because the underlying reality — safe, effective, caring, responsive, well-led care, properly evidenced — is what every version of the framework is trying to measure.
Turning a statement into evidence — an example
The most useful way to work with quality statements is to treat each as a question about your own service and then ask what would prove your answer. Take a durable example in the spirit of the framework: a commitment that the service works in partnership with the people it supports. On its own that is just a sentence. The value comes from asking, honestly, "how would we show that is true?"
For that particular commitment, the evidence might be care plans that clearly record the person's own goals and preferences in their words; minutes or notes showing people and their families are involved in decisions and reviews; feedback you have gathered and — crucially — examples of what changed as a result; and observation on the day that people are genuinely consulted rather than managed. Do that for each statement under each key question and you have both a self-assessment and a ready-made evidence map. The exact list of statements may be refined by CQC over time, but the discipline — statement, honest answer, evidence — works against any version of the framework, and it is the same discipline that keeps a service inspection-ready in general.
Ready for the framework, whatever it says
Complys organises your evidence around the five key questions and the fundamental standards — the stable ground — so you stay ready as CQC refines the detail. It helps you organise and evidence your compliance; it does not certify your service or submit your statutory notifications for you.
Sources
- CQC — Assessment framework
- CQC — The 5 key questions we ask
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
This guide is general information, not regulatory advice. CQC's assessment framework continues to evolve — always check CQC's own current guidance for the wording and use of quality statements for your service type.
Quality statements — FAQs
What are CQC quality statements?
Quality statements — often called 'we statements' — are short commitments written from the perspective of a service, describing what good care looks like in practice, such as 'we work in partnership with people'. They were introduced to sit under the five key questions and give more specific expression to what CQC expects than the questions alone. The number and exact wording have been subject to change, so always check CQC's current framework.
How do quality statements relate to the five key questions?
Each quality statement is grouped under one of the five key questions — Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive or Well-led. The questions are the enduring headings; the statements were designed to break each heading down into more concrete expectations. Think of the questions as the chapters and the statements as the sections within them.
Are quality statements the same as the fundamental standards?
No. The fundamental standards are legal requirements set out in the 2014 Regulations. Quality statements are part of CQC's assessment framework — how it describes and looks at quality — rather than free-standing law. They overlap heavily in substance, because good care meets the standards, but they are different instruments.
Is the quality-statements framework still in use?
CQC's assessment framework, including how quality statements are used and scored, has been through significant review and change. Rather than rely on any fixed description, treat the underlying idea — care judged against specific, person-centred expectations under the five key questions — as the stable part, and check CQC's own current guidance for exactly how the framework applies to your service today.
How do I evidence quality statements?
In the same way you evidence good care generally: with current, specific records and observable practice that show you meet the expectation each statement describes. The practical approach is to work from the five key questions and the fundamental standards, keep your evidence organised and current, and map it to whatever version of the framework CQC is currently applying.
Should I rebuild my whole system around quality statements?
No. Because the framework has changed and may change again, building your service around the volatile detail is risky. Build it around the stable things — the five key questions and the fundamental standards — and treat the quality statements as a helpful, more specific lens. A service that is genuinely safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led meets the expectations however they are currently framed.