TL;DR – the short answer
To get a 5-star (“very good”) food hygiene rating, a business needs a total inspection score of 0–15 with no individual score above 5. The scores cover three areas: how hygienically food is handled, the physical condition and cleanliness of the premises, and confidence in management (your food safety systems and records). Most lost points come from things you can control: cleaning standards, maintenance and paperwork.
Whether it’s a staff canteen in a Telford manufacturing plant, a café inside a hospital, or a kitchen in a care home, the food hygiene rating on the door says a lot. Under the Food Standards Agency (FSA) Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS), local authority officers inspect food businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and rate them from 0 (“urgent improvement necessary”) to 5 (“very good”) [1].
The FSA is clear that all businesses should be able to achieve the top rating [1]. This guide explains how inspectors score you and the cleaning and management habits that turn a 3 or 4 into a 5, and keep it there.
72%
of food businesses in England displayed a hygiene rating sticker in 2024, up from 55% in 2017
Source: FSA, 2025
89%
of English businesses rated 4 or below made changes to improve their next rating
Source: FSA, 2025
86%
of English businesses think mandatory display of ratings would be a good thing
Source: FSA, 2025
According to the FSA, the inspecting officer checks three elements [1]:
| Element | What it covers | Typical cleaning and maintenance issues |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hygienic food handling | How food is prepared, cooked, reheated, cooled and stored | Cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat food, dirty utensils, poor temperature control |
| 2. Physical condition of the premises | Cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation, pest control and other facilities | Grease on canopies and walls, dirty floors and drains, damaged surfaces, blocked hand-wash basins, signs of pests |
| 3. Confidence in management | How the business manages and records what it does to keep food safe | Missing cleaning schedules, gaps in temperature logs, no evidence of staff training |
Each element gets a numerical score, and lower is better. The scores are added up, and the total is matched to a rating band. Crucially, there is also an “additional scoring factor”: your worst single element limits your rating, however good the other two are [2].
| Total score | Additional condition | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 0–15 | No individual score greater than 5 | 5 – Very good |
| 20 | No individual score greater than 10 | 4 – Good |
| 25–30 | No individual score greater than 10 | 3 – Generally satisfactory |
| 35–40 | No individual score greater than 15 | 2 – Improvement necessary |
| 45–50 | No individual score greater than 20 | 1 – Major improvement necessary |
| Over 50 | – | 0 – Urgent improvement necessary |
Why this matters for cleaning: a spotless food-handling performance can’t make up for a greasy extraction canopy or a damaged floor. If the “physical condition” score is above 5, a 5 rating is impossible.
Inspection frequency depends on risk. The FSA says intervals range from every six months for the highest-risk businesses to every two years for lower-risk ones, and some very low-risk businesses may wait longer [1]. In practice, an unannounced visit can happen on any day, so the aim is to be “inspection ready” every day rather than preparing for one.
It depends on where you are. Display is a legal requirement in Wales and Northern Ireland and voluntary in England [1]. Even so, display in England is rising. The FSA’s 2024 audit found that 72% of English businesses displayed a sticker, up from 55% in 2017. In Wales and Northern Ireland the figures were 94% and 90% [3]. The same survey found that 86% of English businesses felt it would be a good thing if display became mandatory [3].
The FSA survey asked businesses rated 4 or below what they did next. Around nine in ten (89%) in England said they changed how they work to improve at the next inspection. The most common changes were repairs and improvement works (20%–29% by nation), better documentation and record keeping (17%–21%), fixing structural issues, and buying extra equipment [3]. Each of those maps directly onto one of the inspector’s three elements.
Use this list to stress-test your kitchen against all three elements. It’s based on FSA guidance and on what we see when kitchens call us in after a disappointing score.
Five-star readiness checklist
Daily cleaning keeps visible surfaces clean, but inspectors look up, behind and underneath. Grease builds up in canopies, on the back of cooking ranges and in floor drains over months, and that is exactly what moves a structure score from 0 or 5 to 10 or more. A periodic specialist kitchen clean, timed before your expected inspection window, resets those hidden areas and gives you a dated record to show the officer.
Floors deserve the same attention. Kitchen floors that are worn, porous or ingrained with grease are hard to clean, can harbour bacteria and create slip risks. Periodic machine scrubbing and floor restoration keeps them in a condition an inspector will recognise as cleanable.
The FSA explains that businesses can appeal a rating they think is unfair, and can ask for a re-visit once improvements have been made. Each route comes with forms and time limits set out on the FSA’s FHRS guidance for businesses [1]. Before you request a re-visit, make sure the officer’s report has been fully addressed and that you have evidence such as dated photos, invoices and updated records.
For over two decades, our teams have deep cleaned kitchens ranging from small independent restaurants to large chain hotels, pubs, bars and industrial kitchens. Prime Facility Services is owner-managed and works from bases in Telford and Dudley, covering Shropshire, Staffordshire, the West Midlands and beyond. We are accredited to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 (since 2010) and to Safecontractor (since 2013).
Grease and carbon residue can build up over time and lead to fire risk and cross-contamination, which is why extraction cleaning sits within our kitchen deep cleaning service. These are the services that support a good inspection result:
Commercial kitchen deep cleaning
A deep clean of ceilings, floors, walls and worktops, plus cookers, griddles, fryers, refrigerators and freezers. Our teams can work alongside your in-house kitchen staff.
Cleaning of filters, extractor fans, ducting and canopies, where grease and carbon build-up creates fire and cross-contamination risks.
Specialist cleaning and maintenance for hard surfaces, with experience across quarry tiles, ceramic and vinyl floors.
Routine cleaning between deep cleans, delivered by trained, supervised teams and checked through digital cleaning audits.
What a pre-inspection clean can include
A deep clean supports the cleanliness and condition of your premises. It does not replace your food safety management system or good handling practice, which the officer scores separately.
Book a pre-inspection kitchen deep clean
Ring 0800 566 8894 or tell us when your inspection or re-visit is due and we’ll plan the clean around it.
You need a total inspection score of 0–15 with no individual element scoring more than 5. Lower scores are better.
How hygienically food is handled; the physical condition of the premises, including cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and pest control; and how the business manages and records food safety (confidence in management).
The FSA says it ranges from every six months for the highest-risk businesses to every two years for lower-risk businesses. Some very low-risk premises may wait longer.
Display is mandatory in Wales and Northern Ireland. In England it is voluntary, although the FSA’s 2024 survey found 72% of English businesses displayed a sticker.
Yes. Cleanliness is part of the physical condition element, and a written cleaning schedule supports the confidence in management element. Poor cleaning can cap your rating even if food handling is good.
Yes. The FSA explains that businesses can request a re-visit once they have made the improvements the officer asked for. There are set procedures and forms on the FSA’s guidance for businesses.
It can help with the cleanliness and condition of the premises, which is one of the three areas the officer scores. Hygienic food handling and food safety management are assessed separately, so a clean is not a guarantee. Prime Facility Services deep cleans kitchens, equipment and extraction, and issues a hygiene certificate on completion. Call 0800 566 8894 to book.
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