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The CQC and your marketing: rating display and registration

Last reviewed against the regulators’ own text, linked in the sources below.

This is general information, not legal advice.

On this page
  1. What the CQC covers
  2. Ratings display
  3. Registration in marketing
  4. Sources

Most dental practices don't have to display a CQC rating on their website, because the Care Quality Commission doesn't rate primary dental services. It inspects them and judges whether they meet the regulations, but the legal duty to display a rating only applies to services that have one.1 The CQC also covers England only. Within that scope, you can still mention CQC registration in marketing; the care is in not overstating it.

The wider set of rules is on the hub, Dental advertising rules in the UK: every rulebook in one place. This is general information, not legal advice. Nothing here describes any practice's actual CQC status: check your own on the CQC website.

What the CQC covers

The Care Quality Commission is "the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England".2 Its role is to register providers, monitor and inspect them, and act when care falls short.2 Practices in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland answer to their own national systems, which this page doesn't cover.

QuestionEnglandScotland, Wales, Northern Ireland
Does the CQC register the practice?YesNo, the CQC's remit is England2
Does the CQC rate the practice?No: primary dental services are exempt from rating1Not applicable
Duty to display a CQC rating?Only if a rating exists, which for primary dental services it normally does not1Not applicable
May the practice show a "Regulated by CQC" graphic?Yes, optional3Not applicable

Ratings display

The display duty is Regulation 20A of the regulations made under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. Where a rating exists, it requires a sign at the premises and, on the provider's website, the rating plus where to find the assessment on the CQC's site.4 The CQC can prosecute a breach and says it can move "directly to prosecution without first serving a warning notice".4

For dental practices, the CQC's display guidance answers the question directly. Under "Services we do not rate", the first item listed is "primary dental services".1 For those services the CQC provides "a judgement to reflect whether a service is meeting the regulations" instead of a rating.1

Registration in marketing

The CQC offers optional "Regulated by" graphics so providers can show they are "legally registered and inspected under the Health and Social Care Act 2008".3 It says these graphics are "particularly useful" for providers that do not receive a rating, and gives "primary care dental providers" as the example.3

  • Use the official graphic, unaltered, linked to the CQC's homepage.3
  • Keep it at or above the minimum size: 135 x 65 pixels online, 25mm wide in print.3
  • Say "registered with" or "regulated by" the CQC, never "rated" or "approved by".
  • Do not imply the CQC endorses a treatment, a clinician or an offer.
  • Practices outside England should not use the graphic at all.

Where the graphic sits, alongside the other must-have items, is the next page to read: what a UK dental website must show. For a free first look at how your site and ads mention the regulators, email Fayez@imfayez.com.

Sources

  1. Care Quality Commission, "How providers must display ratings", last updated 26 November 2025. https://www.cqc.org.uk/cqc-ratings-and-promotional-graphics/how-providers-must-display-ratings (accessed 1 October 2026). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  2. Care Quality Commission, "About us". https://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us (accessed 1 October 2026). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. Care Quality Commission, "Regulated by CQC graphics", last updated 25 November 2025. https://www.cqc.org.uk/cqc-ratings-and-promotional-graphics/promotional-graphics-providers/regulated-CQC (accessed 1 October 2026). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  4. Care Quality Commission, "Regulation 20A: Requirement as to display of performance assessments", last updated 25 November 2025. https://www.cqc.org.uk/guidance-regulation/providers/regulations-service-providers-and-managers/health-social-care-act/regulation-20a (accessed 1 October 2026). ↩ ↩2