Work Capability Assessment: LCW, LCWRA Explained 2026

Quick answer: The Work Capability Assessment has two outcomes. Limited Capability for Work (LCW) is points-based, you need 15 points across 17 activities. Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCWRA), the higher award, is not scored on points, you meet it if a single listed descriptor applies for most of the time, or through a route such as terminal illness or substantial risk.

The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is the test the DWP uses to find out how your illness or disability affects how much you can work. It applies to:

• Universal Credit, where the result decides whether you can get the LCWRA element and which work-related requirements you can be given.
• New-style (contributory) ESA, where the WCA decides whether you go into the Work-Related Activity Group or the Support Group.

It usually starts with a questionnaire, the WCA50 (the "Capability for work questionnaire", which has replaced the separate ESA50 and UC50 forms), followed where needed by a functional assessment with a healthcare professional, by phone, video or in person.

Quick answer: The official name is the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). GOV.UK says it is used to find out if your illness or disability affects how much you can work, and you only have one if you claim both Universal Credit and New Style ESA. One GOV.UK page writes "limited capacity for work and work-related activity" for LCWRA, but the regulations say "capability".

There is a different questionnaire in Northern Ireland.

The WCA can place you in one of three positions:

For what each outcome pays and who keeps the higher rate, see our LCWRA guide and the Severe Conditions Criteria, or browse all our benefits guides.

LCW is points-based: there are 17 activities (10 physical, 7 mental and cognitive). For each activity you take the single highest-scoring descriptor that applies to you, then add the scores across all the activities. You need a total of 15 points to be treated as having limited capability for work, whether they come from the physical activities, the mental and cognitive activities or a mixture of both.

Mobilising is the first activity in Schedule 6 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013. It is measured unaided by another person, with or without a walking stick, manual wheelchair or other aid if such aid is normally or could reasonably be worn or used. The table below summarises its descriptors and points.

Scores from different activities are added together. For example, 9 points from the 100 metre mobilising descriptor and 6 points from the reaching descriptor for not being able to raise either arm above head height add up to 15 points.

LCWRA is not points-based. You meet it if at least one of the descriptors in Schedule 7 applies to you, your capability for work and work-related activity is limited, and it is not reasonable to require you to undertake such activity. A descriptor applies if it applies for the majority of the time, or on the majority of the occasions you do or try the activity. Some examples from the list:

• ✓Yes: Mobilising: you cannot mobilise more than 50 metres on level ground without stopping to avoid significant discomfort or exhaustion, or repeatedly mobilise 50 metres within a reasonable timescale.
• ✓Yes: Manual dexterity: you cannot press a button with either hand or cannot turn the pages of a book with either hand.
• ✓Yes: Continence: at least once a week you lose control leading to extensive evacuation of the bowel or voiding of the bladder. The 15-point LCW descriptor is at least once a month.
• ✓Yes: Coping with change: you cannot cope with any change to the extent that day to day life cannot be managed.
• ✓Yes: Social engagement: engagement in social contact is always precluded.
• ✓Yes: Two activities appear only in the LCWRA list: conveying food or drink to your mouth, and chewing or swallowing food or drink.

For a deeper walk-through of the LCWRA route and the Support Group, see our LCWRA guide.

Some people are treated as having LCW or LCWRA without scoring any descriptors. Under the Universal Credit rules (Schedules 8 and 9 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013), you are treated as having LCWRA if:

• ✓Yes: You are terminally ill. GOV.UK's end of life page describes this as being terminally ill and possibly not living longer than 12 months.
• ✓Yes: You are pregnant and there is a serious risk of damage to your health or your unborn child's health if you do not refrain from work and work-related activity.
• ✓Yes: You are receiving treatment for cancer by way of chemotherapy or radiotherapy, are likely to receive it within 6 months of the decision, or are recovering from it, and the Secretary of State is satisfied you should be treated as having LCWRA.
• ✓Yes: There would be a substantial risk to anyone's physical or mental health if you were found not to have LCWRA (see below).

You are treated as having LCW if:

• ✓Yes: You are receiving regular weekly haemodialysis, plasmapheresis or regular weekly total parenteral nutrition, or are recovering from them in circumstances where the Secretary of State is satisfied you should be treated as having LCW.
• ✓Yes: You are in hospital or a similar institution as a patient, having been advised to stay for 24 hours or longer, or recovering from that treatment in circumstances where the Secretary of State is satisfied you should be treated as having LCW.
• ✓Yes: You are excluded from work, or prevented from working, under public health law because it is known or reasonably suspected that you have an infection or contamination, or have been in contact with a case.
• ✓Yes: You have a life threatening disease that is uncontrollable or uncontrolled by a recognised therapeutic procedure, with medical evidence.
• ✓Yes: There would be a substantial risk to anyone's physical or mental health if you were found not to have LCW (see below).

Even if you do not score enough points, you can be treated as having LCW or LCWRA if you have a specific illness, disease or disablement and there would be a substantial risk to the mental or physical health of any person if you were found not to have limited capability for work (or for work-related activity).

• For ESA the rules are regulation 29 (LCW) and regulation 35 (LCWRA) of the ESA Regulations 2008.
• For Universal Credit the equivalents are Schedule 8 paragraph 4 (LCW) and Schedule 9 paragraph 4 (LCWRA) of the UC Regulations 2013.
• For the LCW route only, it does not apply where the risk could be reduced by a significant amount by reasonable adjustments in your workplace, or by medication prescribed for you by the registered medical practitioner treating you. That exception is not in the LCWRA wording.

The WCA50 questionnaire tells you to answer Yes to its questions only if you can do the activity:

• ✓Yes: Safely.
• ✓Yes: To an acceptable standard.
• ✓Yes: As often as you need to.
• ✓Yes: In a reasonable length of time.

Most WCAs involve a conversation with a healthcare professional, and most of those happen by phone. DWP's statistics, published on 15 September 2026, show that of WCA consultations in July 2026, 72% were by telephone, 23% face to face and 5% by video. The government has set a target for 30% of PIP and WCA consultations to be face to face. Of the 3.6 million WCAs completed in Great Britain between January 2021 and July 2026, 470,000 were completed on paper, with no consultation with the claimant.

DWP also published the results of a trial run between May 2022 and January 2023, in which people were allocated a phone, video or face to face assessment in a way that was random or close to it. The format made little difference to the outcome: 60% of people allocated a face to face WCA were awarded LCWRA, against 61% allocated video and 58% allocated a phone call. DWP found that people who changed channel tended to receive a higher award on average, and cautions that the channel people attended was not randomly assigned.

• Send the completed questionnaire back by the date in your letter, using the envelope provided, which does not need a stamp. The form says not to send it or take it to your Jobcentre Plus office.
• If you need more space, the form tells you to use its ‘Other information’ section or a separate sheet of paper with your National Insurance number written on it.
• Send copies of medical or other information you already have. The form says not to pay for information or send original documents, and to write your National Insurance number on each piece.
• The form asks about the health and support professionals you see, such as a consultant, psychiatrist, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, social worker or support worker, and about your medication and any side effects.
• The audio of your assessment is recorded. If you do not want it recorded, contact your health assessment provider using the details in your invitation letter.

If you are found fit for work or only given LCW when you should have LCWRA, you can challenge it by Mandatory Reconsideration and then appeal to a tribunal.