PIP Descriptors, Points and Activities: How They Work in a Mandatory Reconsideration

How PIP Scoring Works

PIP daily living and mobility scores are based on points for functional ability, not on diagnosis alone. The 12 activities — 10 for daily living, 2 for mobility — each have a set of descriptors graded by severity. The decision maker picks the descriptor that best matches your functional ability for each activity, and that descriptor carries a point value. Points add up within each component (daily living and mobility separately) to determine whether you get no award, the Standard rate, or the Enhanced rate.

The thresholds: 8 points for Standard, 12 points for Enhanced. Within a single activity, only the highest applicable descriptor counts — you cannot score two descriptors in the same activity. But points from different activities are additive: 4 points from Activity 1 plus 4 from Activity 3 plus 2 from Activity 4 gives you 10 points total for Daily Living, which is Standard rate.

The 12 Activities at a Glance

Daily Living (Activities 1–10):

1. Preparing food — can you plan, prepare, and cook a simple meal?
2. Taking nutrition — can you eat and drink?
3. Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition — can you take medication, monitor your condition, or manage prescribed therapy?
4. Washing and bathing — can you wash yourself?
5. Managing toilet needs — can you get to and use the toilet?
6. Dressing and undressing — can you put on and take off clothes?
7. Communicating verbally — can you express and understand spoken information?
8. Reading and understanding signs, symbols and words — can you read and understand written information?
9. Engaging with other people face to face — can you interact with others?
10. Making budgeting decisions — can you manage money?

Mobility (Activities 11–12):

11. Planning and following journeys — can you plan a route and get there?
12. Moving around — how far can you walk reliably?

How Descriptors Work in Practice

Each activity has between two and seven descriptors, scored from 0 to 12 points. The descriptors increase in severity. For example, Activity 1 (preparing food) ranges from "can prepare and cook a simple meal unaided" (0 points) through levels of needing aids, prompting, supervision, or assistance, up to "cannot prepare and cook food at all" (8 points).

The decision maker selects the descriptor based on the evidence — the PA4 assessment report, your PIP2 form, medical records, and any other documents. The descriptor should reflect what you can do reliably on the majority of days, applying the reliability criteria: safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, and in a reasonable time.

If the decision maker chose a lower descriptor than your evidence supports for any activity, that is what you challenge in a mandatory reconsideration.

Identifying Which Descriptors to Challenge

Start with the score breakdown on your decision letter. For each activity:

1. Check the awarded descriptor — what did the decision maker say you can do?
2. Compare it to your daily reality — what do you actually need on most days?
3. Check the PA4 report — did the assessor record your answers accurately? Did they note things you told them?
4. Apply the reliability criteria — even if you can do the activity sometimes, can you do it safely, repeatedly, to an acceptable standard, and in a reasonable time on over 50% of days?

If there is a gap between the awarded descriptor and what your evidence shows, that activity goes into your MR submission.

Common Scoring Mistakes

Decision makers and assessors make predictable errors:

Ignoring aids and appliances. If you use a shower stool, grab rails, a perching stool in the kitchen, or a dosette box, those are aids under the regulations. Using an aid means you are not completing the activity unaided, and the descriptor should reflect that.

Treating a good assessment day as typical. The assessment is a single snapshot. If you managed to attend and communicate clearly, the assessor may record higher function than your average day. The majority-of-days rule (Regulation 7) says the descriptor applies if the difficulty exists on more than 50% of days.

Overlooking prompting and supervision. If someone reminds you to take medication, checks you have eaten, or stays nearby while you cook for safety reasons, that is prompting or supervision — not informal choice. It scores points.

Conflating ability with safety. You might physically be able to cook, but if you regularly burn food, leave the hob on, or have fallen in the kitchen, you are not doing it safely. The safety limb of the reliability criteria applies.

How to Present Your Challenge

Structure your MR submission activity by activity. For each one you dispute:

• State the descriptor and points the DWP awarded
• State the descriptor and points you believe apply
• Explain why, referencing specific evidence (PA4 errors, medical letters, carer statements, your diary)
• Explain which reliability criterion is not met (safety, repeatability, acceptable standard, reasonable time)

This structure makes it straightforward for the new decision maker to follow your argument and compare it against the evidence.

Building the Evidence

For every disputed activity, you need evidence that shows functional limitation — not just diagnosis. A GP letter confirming your condition helps, but a letter describing what you cannot do reliably is far more useful. A carer statement describing specific daily help carries more weight than a general statement that life is hard.

Our PIP Mandatory Reconsideration guide includes a descriptor-by-descriptor PA4 audit template so you can work through each activity systematically, and a reliability logging grid for tracking your daily functioning across the assessment period.

Free advice on PIP descriptors and scoring is available from Citizens Advice, Disability Rights UK, and local welfare rights services.

See more England and Wales guides →