Can Oxfordshire County Council fund a care home placement?

It can, where the needs assessment identifies eligible needs and the financial assessment shows capital and income below the national thresholds. The value of a property is usually taken into account once a move is permanent, though a deferred payment agreement may be possible while a house is sold. Where the council contributes, the resident pays an assessed amount from their income. Families above the threshold arrange the placement privately and can request a financial assessment later if savings reduce.

How do I arrange a care needs assessment in Oxfordshire?

Contact the adult social care team at Oxfordshire County Council and ask for a care needs assessment. It is free and open to anyone who appears to need care, regardless of income or savings. A social worker will discuss daily living, mobility, memory, medication and the help relatives already provide, at home or on a hospital ward. The written outcome sets out the level of care required and forms the basis of any support plan.

How much time should we allow to find a care home?

More than seems necessary at the outset. Assessments take time to arrange, visits have to be fitted around work, and the home that suits best may have no vacancy that month. Allowing a few weeks makes it possible to compare homes fairly rather than accepting whatever is free. Reading the inspection reports first shortens the search and improves the questions you ask.

Which care homes in Oxfordshire are listed here?

Fifty six residential care homes registered with the Care Quality Commission across Oxfordshire appear on this page. Cleeve Lodge, four Pages Orchard and Cuttlebrook Hall are rated Outstanding, and homes such as The Homestead, Waterside Court Care Home, Iris Hayter House and Kirlena House are among those rated Good. Each entry shows the provider type and the current rating. The profiles carry the inspection detail behind each grade.

What should I ask when visiting a care home in Oxfordshire?

Ask how many care staff are on duty during the day and overnight, and how absence is covered at short notice. Ask how long the manager and senior carers have worked there, since continuity usually means residents are well known. Find out how the home responds when someone becomes unwell and how quickly relatives are contacted. Ask to see the room that is genuinely available and to stay through part of a mealtime.

What is the difference between a residential care home and a nursing home?

A residential care home provides accommodation and personal care, covering help with washing, dressing, meals, medicines and daily routine. A nursing home provides the same with a registered nurse on duty at all hours for clinical needs. Every provider listed on this page holds a residential registration. Where nursing tasks are already part of daily life, look for a home registered to provide nursing care instead.

Care Homes in Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire has 61 CQC registered care homes. 45 are rated Good, 3 Outstanding, 6 Requires improvement, and 7 have not yet been rated. 45 of the 61 were last inspected more than three years ago.

Source: Care Quality Commission register, kept up to date as ratings change.

Oxfordshire at a glance

What the numbers say about care for older people in Oxfordshire.

Oxfordshire County Council pays, residential care: £1,184 a week. Self-funders are typically asked £1,640 to £1,825, median £1,700
Care home beds filled across Oxfordshire: 84%. The 12 month average is 82%.
Care home beds per 1,000 people aged 75+: 80
People aged 75 and over: 76,100. Rising to 93,400 by 2035, up 23%
Care homes, last 12 months: 1 opened, 2 closed. 12 changed owner, covering 671 beds.
Who pays, across Oxfordshire (estimate): 33% council, 55% self. The rest is NHS funded or other.
Living with dementia, aged 65 and over (estimate): 10,000. Rising to 13,200 by 2035, up 32%
People aged 85 and over: 21,400. Rising to 33,100 by 2035, up 55%

Powered by Orrery Intelligence. Market model built 22 October 2026 (ONS 2022 based population projections, CQC register), published care home prices, council planning records.

Planning and paying for a care home place in Oxfordshire

Ask for the assessment early

The care needs assessment is free, open to anyone who appears to need care whatever their savings, and slower to arrange than families hope, which is the argument for requesting it sooner rather than later. A social worker records what someone can manage alone, what has become unsafe and what support would put that right. Where a care home is the answer, the assessment underpins the support plan and every funding decision that follows. Requests are made to Oxfordshire County Council Adult Social Care, which assesses need and arranges funded placements where a person is eligible.

The financial assessment

Funding is settled separately, by measuring income and capital against the national thresholds. Savings are counted and the value of a property is normally counted once the move is permanent, although a deferred payment arrangement may bridge the wait while a house sells. Where the council contributes, the resident still pays an assessed amount from pension and benefits. Above the threshold, the family arranges and funds the placement, and can ask for an assessment later if capital falls.

What the weekly fee does and does not buy

Fees differ between homes according to the room, the support required and whether the home holds a contract with the council. Ask for the figure in writing, then ask what lies outside it, since hairdressing, chiropody and outings are often charged separately. Ask how often fees are reviewed and what notice is given. Where a council funded place is in prospect, ask whether a third party contribution would be expected and from whom, because that conversation is far easier before a move than after one.

Choosing a home in Oxfordshire and what to check

Using the grades sensibly

Cleeve Lodge, four Pages Orchard and Cuttlebrook Hall hold Outstanding ratings, and forty further homes are rated Good. Seven have been told they require improvement, one is rated Inadequate and five have no grade because they registered too recently to be inspected in full. Sorting by grade cuts fifty six homes down quickly, but the report is where the substance lies. Inspectors record what they actually saw, and a home marked down for record keeping stands in a different position from one marked down for how residents were treated.

The questions that separate similar homes

Ask how many carers are on duty by day and overnight, how often agency staff are used and how long the manager has been in post. Ask what a typical day would look like for someone with your relative's particular needs, rather than in general. Ask how the home supports people living with dementia and what it does when someone becomes unsettled in the evening. Ask what the home finds hard, because a candid answer tells you more than a polished one.

Before you commit

Visit at a busy hour and stay beyond the tour, noticing whether call bells are answered while you stand there and whether staff speak to residents by name. Read the contract in advance, particularly the terms on notice, fee increases and what happens if needs outgrow the home. Every profile on this page carries the full inspection report, so the sifting can be done quietly before anyone is asked to decide.

61 care homes in Oxfordshire (showing 1–50)

Cherwood House Care Centre · Bicester, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Oxenford House · Oxford, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
The Ridings · Banbury, Oxfordshire · CQC Requires improvement
22 Woodlands Road · Reading, Oxfordshire · CQC Requires improvement
The Homestead · Carterton, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Waterside Court Care Home · Wallingford, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Iris Hayter House · Oxford, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
St Andrew's Residential Care Home · Oxford, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
OSJCT Lake House · Banbury, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Rosebank Care Home · Bampton, Oxfordshire · CQC Requires improvement
St. John's Home · Oxford, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Khiron Bungalow · Wantage, Oxfordshire
Meylan House · Didcot, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
The Grange · Reading, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Sotwell Hill House · Wallingford, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Woodview · Didcot, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Featherton House · Banbury, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
OSJCT Old Station House · Abingdon, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
The Old Vicarage Residential and Dementia Care Home · Wallingford, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Enstone House · Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire · CQC Requires improvement
Leafield Residential Care Home · Abingdon, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Brook House Residential Care Home · Didcot, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Cleeve Lodge · Reading, Oxfordshire · CQC Outstanding
OSJCT Longlands · Oxford, Oxfordshire · CQC Requires improvement
OSJCT Spencer Court · Woodstock, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
OSJCT Marston Court · Oxford, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Kirlena House · Oxford, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
OSJCT Henry Cornish Care Centre · Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Khiron Clinics · Wantage, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Ferendune Court · Oxford, Oxfordshire · CQC Requires improvement
Rosalie Care Home · Banbury, Oxfordshire
Eden House Residential Home I · Oxford, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Beech Haven · Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Millers Grange · Witney, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Framland · Wantage, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
4 Pages Orchard · Reading, Oxfordshire · CQC Outstanding
Brize Meadow Lodge · Carterton, Oxfordshire
St Anne's Residential Care Home · Banbury, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Cuttlebrook Hall · Thame, Oxfordshire · CQC Outstanding
Launton Grange Care Home · Bicester, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Respite Service · Oxford, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
The Lady Nuffield Home · Oxford, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Short Term Breaks - 69 Neithrop Avenue · Banbury, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Holt Farm Care · Bicester, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Fairfield Residential Home · Oxford, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
OSJCT Townsend House · Headington, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Holder House · Abingdon, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
OSJCT Madley Park House · Witney, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
Tower House · Henley On Thames, Oxfordshire · CQC Good
OSJCT Stirlings · Wantage, Oxfordshire · CQC Good

What care costs in Oxfordshire, per week

Type of care	What the council pays	What self-funders are typically asked
Residential care Middle half of prices from 13 Oxfordshire homes. Median £1,700.	£1,184	£1,640 to £1,825
Nursing care South East figure, because too few Oxfordshire homes publish this price. 63 homes. Median £1,933.	£1,231	£1,617 to £2,080
Residential dementia care Middle half of prices from 12 Oxfordshire homes. Median £1,894.	Not published separately	£1,760 to £2,007
Nursing dementia care South East figure, because too few Oxfordshire homes publish this price. 37 homes. Median £2,050.	Not published separately	£1,975 to £2,226

Published prices are often starting prices, and come from homes that publish fees, so treat them as a guide. Ask the home for its own price. Powered by Orrery Intelligence.

Inspected most recently

Fairholme House, 5 August 2026, Good
Featherton House, 22 June 2026, Good
Sotwell Hill House, 1 June 2026, Good

Longest since a report

The Old Vicarage Residential and Dementia Care Home, 1 November 2017, Good
Brook House Residential Care Home, 14 November 2017, Good
OSJCT Spencer Court, 3 January 2018, Good

Frequently asked questions about care homes in Oxfordshire

How many care homes are there in Oxfordshire?

Oxfordshire has 61 CQC registered care homes: 3 Outstanding, 45 Good, 6 Requires improvement, 7 not yet rated. Counts come from the CQC register and are kept up to date as ratings change.

How much does a care home cost in Oxfordshire?

Oxfordshire County Council pays an average of £1,184 a week for residential care. Self-funders are typically asked £1,640 to £1,825 a week. Middle half of prices from 13 Oxfordshire homes. Median £1,700. Published prices are often starting prices, and come from homes that publish fees, so treat them as a guide. Ask the home for its own price.

Which care homes in Oxfordshire were inspected most recently?

Fairholme House (5 August 2026), Featherton House (22 June 2026) and Sotwell Hill House (1 June 2026) have the most recent CQC reports.

Local care news in Oxfordshire

Abingdon Court Care Home registered as a 64 bed care home in Vale of White Horse (5 November 2026)

More local care news for Oxfordshire