What share of UK care homes & caring premises have a 5-star food hygiene rating?

88.2% of UK care homes & caring premises hold the top 5-star Food Standards Agency hygiene rating — 31,560 of 35,793 rated premises in England, Wales and Northern Ireland — with an average rating of 4.84 out of 5. That is above the all-business-type UK average of 78.2%. Data as of 2026-06-12.

How many UK care homes & caring premises have a low (0 or 1 star) hygiene rating?

0.3% of rated UK care homes & caring premises (113 premises) score 0 or 1 star, the FSA's lowest bands. A low share here means most lower-rated premises sit at 3–4 stars, not at the bottom.

What do UK care homes & caring premises score worst on at inspection?

Across the FSA's three inspection components — Hygiene (food handling), Structural (cleanliness and condition) and Confidence in Management — UK care homes & caring premises score worst, relative to each band, on cleanliness & structure. Lower component scores are better; this reflects where inspectors most often note room for improvement, not unsafe food.

UK Care homes & caring premises Food Hygiene Ratings 2026

Quick answer

88.2% of UK care homes & caring premises hold the top 5-star food hygiene rating.

Across 35,793 rated care homes & caring premises, 31,560 (88.2%) carry the maximum 5-star Food Standards Agency rating and the average rating is 4.84 out of 5. That is above the all-business-type UK average of 78.2% (+10 percentage points). 0.3% (113) score 0 or 1 star.

Rating distribution

Every one of the 35,793 rated care homes & caring premises, by their 0–5 Food Hygiene Rating.

5 — Very good

31,560 (88.2%)

4 — Good

3,276 (9.2%)

3 — Generally satisfactory

710 (2%)

2 — Improvement necessary

134 (0.4%)

1 — Major improvement necessary

106 (0.3%)

0 — Urgent improvement necessary

7 (0%)

Where care homes & caring premises score worst

The FSA scores three things at every inspection. Each bar is the mean sub-score for care homes & caring premises — lower is better (0 = no issues found). Computed over 35,558 rated premises that carried all three sub-scores.

Hygiene (food handling, storage, cooking)2.4 / 25

Structural (cleanliness, layout, condition)2.9 / 25

Confidence in management (record-keeping, controls)3.1 / 30

For care homes & caring premises, the component dragging ratings down most — relative to its own scoring band — is cleanliness & structure. A higher sub-score there means more inspections flagged that area for improvement. It does not mean the food is unsafe: only 0.3% of rated care homes & caring premises sit at 0–1 star.

Compare

UK Food Hygiene by Business Type 2026 — all 14 categories ranked, restaurants vs takeaways and more.
The State of UK Restaurant Hygiene 2026 — national pass rate, best and worst local authorities.
UK Food Hygiene Ratings Directory — search the full dataset by local authority and postcode.
GeraCompliance — food safety and regulatory checks for businesses.

Methodology

Figures are computed directly from the Food Standards Agency Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) public register, restricted to premises the FSA classifies as "Caring Premises" in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that carry a published 0–5 rating (35,793 premises). Percentages are over rated premises only. Scotland's separate FHIS pass/fail scheme is excluded so the five-star metric stays comparable. The average rating is the count-weighted mean of the 0–5 ratings. The three component sub-scores are the FSA's own Hygiene (0–25), Structural (0–25) and Confidence-in-Management (0–30) bands, where a lower score is better; the means shown are count-weighted over premises carrying all three. No figures are estimated or modelled. Food hygiene data © Crown copyright, Food Standards Agency, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data as of 2026-06-12.