PIP Descriptors and Points: All 12 Activities, Box by Box

Last updated: 14 June 2026Checked against primary legislation on legislation.gov.uk

PIP is scored against 12 activities, and each activity has a set of descriptors worth a fixed number of points. This is the full box-by-box reference: every descriptor, the exact points, what genuinely scores, the reliability test applied to that activity, the assessor traps, and the evidence that helps. Use it alongside the PIP2 form, 'How your disability affects you', to make sure you do not lose points you are entitled to.

Key points

✓12 activities: 10 daily living (max 8 to 12 points each) and 2 mobility (max 12 each).
✓For each activity you score only your single highest descriptor, not several added together.
✓A descriptor counts if it is true for more than 50% of days over a 12-month period.
✓Every descriptor must be met reliably: safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, and in reasonable time.
✓8 points = standard rate, 12 points = enhanced rate, scored separately for each component.

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How to use this box-by-box guide

PIP is not awarded on diagnosis. You score points based on how your condition affects 12 everyday activities. Each activity below shows the official descriptors and their points, then explains what genuinely scores, where assessors get it wrong, and what evidence helps.

✓10 activities make up the Daily Living component; 2 make up Mobility. The two are scored separately.
✓Within each activity, you take only the highest-scoring descriptor that applies to you, you do not add descriptors together.
✓You then total the descriptors across all 10 daily living activities, and separately across the 2 mobility activities.
✓8 to 11 points in a component = standard rate; 12 or more = enhanced rate.
✓A descriptor counts if it applies to you for more than half the days in a 12-month period, so describe your bad days, not your best ones.

See also: how PIP points work, the reliability test, and fluctuating conditions and the 50% rule. To estimate your own total, use the free PIP points calculator.

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The words that appear in every descriptor

The descriptors use a small set of legal terms with precise meanings. Reading them the everyday way is one of the most common reasons people lose points.

Aided / unaided

“Aided” means with the use of an aid or appliance, or with supervision, prompting or assistance. “Unaided” means without any of those. Many descriptors hinge on this single word.

Aid or appliance

Any device that improves, provides or replaces your impaired physical or mental function, for example a walking stick, a perch stool, a dosette box or a communication device. It can be something you do not yet have but could reasonably be expected to use.

Prompting

Reminding, encouraging or explaining by another person. It does not include physical help. Crucial for mental health, ADHD, autism and learning disability.

Supervision

The continuous presence of another person to ensure your safety while you do the activity.

Assistance

Physical intervention by another person to help you do the activity. It does not include speech, that would be prompting.

Communication support

Support from a person trained or experienced in communicating with people with specific communication needs, such as a BSL interpreter (activity 7).

Social support

Support from a person trained or experienced in helping people engage in social situations (activity 9). Case law confirms this can be a friend or relative who is experienced, not only a professional.

Psychological distress

Distress related to an enduring mental-health condition or an intellectual or cognitive impairment. It is the trigger for several mobility descriptors.

Reliably

You can only be treated as able to do an activity if you can do it safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, and in no more than twice the time it would take someone without your condition. All four must be met.

The 10 daily living activities follow, then the 2 mobility activities. The 0-point descriptor (a) in each is the baseline, no difficulty, every other descriptor scores.

Daily living activity 1: Preparing food

Maximum 8 points. Take only the single highest-scoring descriptor that is true for you on more than half of days.

	Descriptor	Points
a	Can prepare and cook a simple meal unaided.	0
b	Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to either prepare or cook a simple meal.	2
c	Cannot cook a simple meal using a conventional cooker but is able to do so using a microwave.	2
d	Needs prompting to be able to either prepare or cook a simple meal.	2
e	Needs supervision or assistance to either prepare or cook a simple meal.	4
f	Cannot prepare and cook food.	8

What actually scores

✓A “simple meal” means a freshly cooked one-course meal for one person from fresh ingredients, not a ready meal or a sandwich. The test is whether you can do the whole task: peel, chop, lift pans, stand at the hob, and serve.
✓Using an aid (a perch stool to sit while cooking, lightweight pans, a one-handed chopping board, liquid-level indicators) scores descriptor b.
✓If you can only manage a microwave because using a conventional cooker is unsafe for you (seizures, tremor, fainting, poor concentration), that is descriptor c, not “no problem”.
✓Needing someone to remind, encourage or talk you through it (common with depression, ADHD, learning disability) is prompting, descriptor d.
✓Needing someone present for safety, or to help physically, is supervision or assistance, descriptor e.

Common trap: Assessors often treat “you could use a microwave” as if it means no difficulty. It does not, descriptor c still scores 2 points, and if you cannot use a conventional cooker safely you should say exactly why.

Evidence that helps: An occupational therapy kitchen-safety assessment, a GP or consultant letter about tremor, seizures, fatigue or concentration, and a list of the aids you use all help here.

Daily living activity 2: Taking nutrition

Maximum 10 points. Take only the single highest-scoring descriptor that is true for you on more than half of days.

	Descriptor	Points
a	Can take nutrition unaided.	0
b	Needs to use an aid or appliance to take nutrition; or supervision to take nutrition; or assistance to cut up food.	2
c	Needs a therapeutic source to take nutrition.	2
d	Needs prompting to be able to take nutrition.	4
e	Needs assistance to be able to manage a therapeutic source to take nutrition.	6
f	Cannot convey food and drink to their mouth and needs another person to do so.	10

What actually scores

✓This activity is only about eating and drinking the food in front of you, not cooking it. Cooking is activity 1.
✓Needing adapted cutlery, a non-slip plate, or someone to cut your food up scores descriptor b.
✓A “therapeutic source” means tube feeding (parenteral or enteral nutrition), descriptors c and e.
✓Needing to be reminded or encouraged to eat, very common with eating disorders, severe depression, dementia and some learning disabilities, is prompting, descriptor d (4 points).

Common trap: Prompting to eat is heavily under-claimed. People assume “taking nutrition” means physically being fed, but needing another person to prompt you to eat at all scores 4 points in its own right.

Evidence that helps: Letters from a dietitian or eating-disorder service, a care plan, and weight records that show the impact of not eating reliably.

Daily living activity 3: Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition

Maximum 8 points. Take only the single highest-scoring descriptor that is true for you on more than half of days.

	Descriptor	Points
a	Does not receive medication, therapy or need to monitor a health condition; or can manage these unaided.	0
b	Needs an aid to manage medication; or supervision, prompting or assistance to manage medication, or to monitor a health condition.	1
c	Needs supervision, prompting or assistance to manage therapy that takes no more than 3.5 hours a week.	2
d	Needs supervision, prompting or assistance to manage therapy that takes more than 3.5 but no more than 7 hours a week.	4
e	Needs supervision, prompting or assistance to manage therapy that takes more than 7 but no more than 14 hours a week.	6
f	Needs supervision, prompting or assistance to manage therapy that takes more than 14 hours a week.	8

What actually scores

✓“Managing medication” covers taking the right dose at the right time. Needing a dosette box or blister pack is an aid; needing reminders is prompting, both score descriptor b (1 point).
✓“Monitoring a health condition” means detecting a change and knowing what to do, for example checking blood sugar, blood pressure or mood, and needing help to do it.
✓“Therapy” is treatment carried out at home, such as physiotherapy exercises, dialysis or supervised mental-health routines. The time bands (c to f) count only the time another person has to supervise, prompt or assist you, not the time you spend alone.

Common trap: The therapy time bands only count if someone else has to be involved. Therapy you do entirely by yourself does not move you up the bands, even if it takes hours. Make clear who helps and for how long each week.

Evidence that helps: Your repeat-prescription list, a care plan, a therapy schedule, and a short statement from the person who helps you, saying what they do and how many hours a week.

Daily living activity 4: Washing and bathing

Maximum 8 points. Take only the single highest-scoring descriptor that is true for you on more than half of days.

	Descriptor	Points
a	Can wash and bathe unaided.	0
b	Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to wash or bathe.	2
c	Needs supervision or prompting to be able to wash or bathe.	2
d	Needs assistance to be able to wash either their hair or body below the waist.	2
e	Needs assistance to be able to get in or out of a bath or shower.	3
f	Needs assistance to be able to wash their body between the shoulders and waist.	4
g	Cannot wash and bathe at all and needs another person to wash their entire body.	8

What actually scores

✓Using a grab rail, shower seat, bath board or long-handled sponge scores descriptor b.
✓Needing someone present for safety (dizziness, seizures, falls) or to prompt you (mental health, low motivation) scores descriptor c.
✓“Assistance” means physical help from another person. Help washing below the waist or your hair is descriptor d; help getting in or out is e; help washing between shoulders and waist is f.

Common trap: Only the single highest-scoring descriptor counts for each activity. Needing a shower seat and help below the waist does not add up, you take the highest. Make sure you describe the help you actually need, not just the aid, so you are not scored at 2 points when you should be higher.

Evidence that helps: An occupational therapy bathroom assessment, a GP letter, and photos of any adaptations fitted in your bathroom.

Daily living activity 5: Managing toilet needs or incontinence

Maximum 8 points. Take only the single highest-scoring descriptor that is true for you on more than half of days.

	Descriptor	Points
a	Can manage toilet needs or incontinence unaided.	0
b	Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to manage toilet needs or incontinence.	2
c	Needs supervision or prompting to be able to manage toilet needs.	2
d	Needs assistance to be able to manage toilet needs.	4
e	Needs assistance to be able to manage incontinence of either bladder or bowel.	6
f	Needs assistance to be able to manage incontinence of both bladder and bowel.	8

What actually scores

✓“Toilet needs” means getting on and off the toilet, cleaning yourself afterwards and adjusting your clothing, not the same thing as incontinence.
✓A raised toilet seat, frame or commode is an aid, descriptor b.
✓Needing physical help to get on or off the toilet or to clean yourself is assistance, descriptor d.
✓If you cannot control your bladder or bowel and need another person to help manage it, that is descriptor e (one of them) or f (both).

Common trap: Continence pads on their own are an aid (2 points). If you actually need another person to help you manage incontinence, that scores 6 or 8 points, do not undersell it as just “I wear pads”.

Evidence that helps: A letter from a continence service or your GP, and a care plan describing the help you need.

Daily living activity 6: Dressing and undressing

Maximum 8 points. Take only the single highest-scoring descriptor that is true for you on more than half of days.

	Descriptor	Points
a	Can dress and undress unaided.	0
b	Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to dress or undress.	2
c	Needs prompting to dress or undress, or to select appropriate clothing.	2
d	Needs assistance to be able to dress or undress their lower body.	2
e	Needs assistance to be able to dress or undress their upper body.	4
f	Cannot dress or undress at all.	8

What actually scores

✓A button hook, elastic laces, a long-handled shoe horn or a dressing stick are aids, descriptor b.
✓Needing someone to prompt you to get dressed, or to choose suitable clothing for the weather or occasion, scores descriptor c, relevant to dementia, learning disability and severe depression.
✓Physical help with your lower body scores descriptor d; help with your upper body scores e.

Common trap: Needing prompting to select appropriate clothing is easy to overlook but it scores. If you would go out under-dressed for the cold, or cannot judge what to wear without someone guiding you, say so.

Evidence that helps: An occupational therapy report, and a GP or psychiatrist letter about the cognitive or motivational impact of your condition.

Daily living activity 7: Communicating verbally

Maximum 12 points. Take only the single highest-scoring descriptor that is true for you on more than half of days.

	Descriptor	Points
a	Can express and understand verbal information unaided.	0
b	Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to speak or hear.	2
c	Needs communication support to express or understand complex verbal information.	4
d	Needs communication support to express or understand basic verbal information.	8
e	Cannot express or understand verbal information at all even with communication support.	12

What actually scores

✓This activity is about words, speaking and hearing them, not about the social or emotional side of dealing with people. That is activity 9.
✓A hearing aid or a communication device is the “aid” in descriptor b (2 points).
✓“Communication support” means help from someone trained or experienced in communicating with people with your specific needs, for example a BSL interpreter or a speech-and-language professional.
✓This is the only daily living activity with a 12-point descriptor, so in principle it can reach the enhanced threshold on its own.

Common trap: Do not confuse this with engaging with people (activity 9). This descriptor is purely about getting verbal information in and out, hearing it and saying it, regardless of any anxiety about social situations.

Evidence that helps: Audiology results, speech-and-language therapy letters, and confirmation of any interpreter or communication support you rely on.

Daily living activity 8: Reading and understanding signs, symbols and words

Maximum 8 points. Take only the single highest-scoring descriptor that is true for you on more than half of days.

	Descriptor	Points
a	Can read and understand basic and complex written information unaided or using spectacles or contact lenses.	0
b	Needs an aid or appliance, other than spectacles or contact lenses, to read or understand basic or complex written information.	2
c	Needs prompting to be able to read or understand complex written information.	2
d	Needs prompting to be able to read or understand basic written information.	4
e	Cannot read or understand signs, symbols or words at all.	8

What actually scores

✓Glasses and contact lenses do not count as an aid here, the activity assumes you are already wearing them.
✓Coloured overlays, a magnifier or text-to-speech software are aids under descriptor b.
✓Needing another person to explain written information is prompting, descriptor c (complex) or d (basic).
✓This is relevant to dyslexia, learning disability, acquired brain injury and sight loss, not only literacy.

Common trap: Difficulty understanding rather than just seeing words counts. Someone with a learning disability or brain injury who can see print but cannot make sense of a basic letter without help scores under descriptor d.

Evidence that helps: An educational-psychology or dyslexia report, a learning-disability assessment, or an optometry report on a visual impairment that glasses do not fix.

Daily living activity 9: Engaging with other people face to face

Maximum 8 points. Take only the single highest-scoring descriptor that is true for you on more than half of days.

	Descriptor	Points
a	Can engage with other people unaided.	0
b	Needs prompting to be able to engage with other people.	2
c	Needs social support to be able to engage with other people.	4
d	Cannot engage with other people due to overwhelming psychological distress, or behaviour that would put the claimant or others at substantial risk of harm.	8

What actually scores

✓“Engaging” means interacting with people in a contextually and socially appropriate way, understanding body language and establishing relationships, the social and emotional side, not just speaking words.
✓Needing reminders or encouragement to engage is prompting, descriptor b.
✓“Social support” (descriptor c, 4 points) is help from someone trained or experienced in supporting you in social situations. Case law confirms this can be a friend or relative who is experienced at it, not only a professional, the key difference from prompting is the skill of the person.
✓Descriptor d covers being unable to engage at all because it causes overwhelming psychological distress, or because it would risk harm.

Common trap: This activity is widely under-scored for autism, social anxiety, PTSD and personality disorders. The line between prompting (2 points) and social support (4 points) turns on whether the person helping needs experience or training to do it, spell that out.

Evidence that helps: Letters from a community mental health team, an autism diagnosis with a functional report, and a statement from whoever supports you socially describing what they have to do.

Daily living activity 10: Making budgeting decisions

Maximum 6 points. Take only the single highest-scoring descriptor that is true for you on more than half of days.

	Descriptor	Points
a	Can manage complex budgeting decisions unaided.	0
b	Needs prompting or assistance to be able to make complex budgeting decisions.	2
c	Needs prompting or assistance to be able to make simple budgeting decisions.	4
d	Cannot make any budgeting decisions at all.	6

What actually scores

✓“Complex budgeting” means calculating household and personal budgets, managing and paying bills and planning future purchases.
✓“Simple budgeting” means calculating the cost of goods and the change required after a purchase.
✓Difficulty only with complex budgeting scores 2 points; difficulty even with simple budgeting scores 4 points.

Common trap: It looks back-to-front but is correct: struggling with simple budgeting scores more (4 points) than struggling only with complex budgeting (2 points). This matters for learning disability, dementia, ADHD and severe mental illness.

Evidence that helps: Evidence of an appointee or someone who manages your money, letters from a debt or money adviser, and examples of financial difficulties caused by your condition.

Mobility activity 1: Planning and following journeys

Maximum 12 points. Take only the single highest-scoring descriptor that is true for you on more than half of days.

	Descriptor	Points
a	Can plan and follow the route of a journey unaided.	0
b	Needs prompting to undertake any journey to avoid overwhelming psychological distress.	4
c	Cannot plan the route of a journey.	8
d	Cannot follow the route of an unfamiliar journey without another person, assistance dog or orientation aid.	10
e	Cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress.	10
f	Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid.	12

What actually scores

✓This activity is mostly cognitive and mental-health based, it is not about how far you can walk. That is activity 2.
✓“Overwhelming psychological distress” has a legal meaning: distress related to an enduring mental-health condition or a cognitive or intellectual impairment. Descriptors b and e turn on it.
✓“Cannot plan a route” (descriptor c) covers being unable to work out how to get somewhere, common with learning disability, autism and brain injury.
✓Being unable to follow an unfamiliar route without help scores 10 points; being unable to follow even a familiar route without help scores the full 12.

Common trap: The driving trap: assessors often use the fact that you can drive, or hold a licence, to deny these descriptors. Being able to drive a familiar route says little about planning an unfamiliar journey, or about the psychological distress of going out, the two are not the same. If you drove to the assessment, expect this point to come up and be ready to explain.

Evidence that helps: Mental health team letters, examples of getting lost or panicking on public transport, and a note of who has to come with you and why.

Mobility activity 2: Moving around

Maximum 12 points. Take only the single highest-scoring descriptor that is true for you on more than half of days.

	Descriptor	Points
a	Can stand and then move more than 200 metres, aided or unaided.	0
b	Can stand and then move more than 50 but no more than 200 metres, aided or unaided.	4
c	Can stand and then move unaided more than 20 but no more than 50 metres.	8
d	Can stand and then move using an aid or appliance more than 20 but no more than 50 metres.	10
e	Can stand and then move more than 1 but no more than 20 metres, aided or unaided.	12
f	Cannot, aided or unaided, either stand or move more than 1 metre.	12

What actually scores

✓This is the physical-walking activity. “Stand” means stand upright with at least one foot on the ground, then move.
✓The 20-metre rule decides enhanced mobility: if you can move more than 20 metres only with difficulty, or no further than 20 metres at all, you reach the 12-point descriptors.
✓Distance must be achieved reliably, see below, walking 30 metres once, very slowly and in pain, is not the same as being able to move 50 metres.

Common trap: Every distance must be done reliably: safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in no more than twice the normal time. Pain, breathlessness, the need to stop and rest, and how you feel afterwards all count, an assessor watching you walk into the room for a few seconds has not seen this.

Evidence that helps: Letters from a physiotherapist or consultant about your walking distance, evidence of using a wheelchair, crutches or a stick, and a clear statement of how far you can go before you have to stop.

Adding it up: a worked example

Imagine someone with depression and chronic back pain who, on more than half their days:

✓Preparing food, needs prompting to cook, descriptor d (2 points)
✓Washing and bathing, needs a shower seat and a grab rail, descriptor b (2 points)
✓Dressing, needs assistance with the lower body because of back pain, descriptor d (2 points)
✓Engaging with people, needs social support, descriptor c (4 points)
✓Daily living total: 2 + 2 + 2 + 4 = 10 points = standard rate Daily Living

✓Moving around, can stand and move only 15 metres before stopping in pain, descriptor e (12 points)
✓Mobility total: 12 points = enhanced rate Mobility

Each component is judged on its own. Here the person gets standard Daily Living and enhanced Mobility, a mix is normal. Run your own figures with the PIP points calculator.

Turning the descriptors into a winning claim

Knowing the descriptors is half the job. The other half is describing your day so the points are obvious to the decision-maker:

✓For every activity, name the descriptor that fits and give a real example from a bad day.
✓Apply the reliability test out loud: explain if you cannot do it safely, to a decent standard, repeatedly, or in reasonable time.
✓Say how often the difficulty happens, the 50% rule means a problem on most days counts even if you have good days.
✓List the aids you use, and any you could reasonably use but do not, both can score.
✓Send evidence that shows function, not just diagnosis, GP or specialist letters, care plans, an OT report, a symptom diary.

For step-by-step help with the form itself, see how to fill in the PIP2 form. If you have already been assessed and scored too low, see how to challenge your assessment report and the PIP appeal guide.

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Frequently asked questions

What are the PIP descriptors?

PIP descriptors are the written statements under each of the 12 PIP activities that describe different levels of difficulty. Each descriptor carries a fixed number of points (from 0 up to 12). The DWP scores your claim by choosing, for each activity, the single highest-scoring descriptor that applies to you on more than half of days, then totalling the points across the daily living activities and separately across the mobility activities.

How many points is each PIP activity worth?

The daily living activities have these maximums: preparing food 8, taking nutrition 10, managing therapy 8, washing and bathing 8, managing toilet needs 8, dressing 8, communicating verbally 12, reading 8, engaging with people 8, budgeting 6. Both mobility activities (planning and following journeys, and moving around) have a maximum of 12 points.

Can I add up two descriptors in the same activity?

No. Within a single activity you can only score the one highest descriptor that applies to you. For example, if you use a shower seat (descriptor b, 2 points) and also need help washing below the waist (descriptor d, 2 points), you take the higher of the two, not both. You do, however, add the chosen descriptor from each separate activity together to get your component total.

What does 'reliably' mean for the PIP descriptors?

You can only be counted as able to do an activity if you can do it reliably, which the regulations define as: safely (without risk of harm), to an acceptable standard, repeatedly (as often as needed), and within a reasonable time (no more than twice as long as someone without your condition). If you fail any one of these four, the descriptor that says you cannot do it reliably should apply.

Do I have to use an aid to score points for it?

Not necessarily. A descriptor can apply if you reasonably need an aid or appliance, even one you do not currently own, to do the activity safely and reliably. So if a perch stool or a grab rail would let you manage a task you otherwise cannot, you can be scored as needing that aid, mention it on your form.

Has the PIP scoring changed for 2026?

No. The descriptors and points in force in 2026 are unchanged. The proposed rule that would have required 4 points from a single daily living descriptor did not become law, and the 20-metre rule for the mobility component still stands. Any changes from the Government's review of the PIP assessment have not yet been made.

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Know Your Rights UK. "PIP Descriptors and Points: All 12 Activities, Box by Box." Know Your Rights UK, https://www.knowyourrightsuk.com/benefits/pip/pip-descriptors