PIP descriptors and the points system

PIP descriptors: how the points system actually works

PIP is decided by scoring daily living activities and mobility activities. Each activity has

descriptors worth 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 or 12 points; you need 8 points for the standard rate and 12

for the enhanced rate of each part. The full list of activities and descriptors is law — Schedule 1

of the Social Security (PIP) Regulations 2013.

1. Preparing food

2. Taking nutrition

3. Managing therapy (monitoring and managing a course of treatment)

4. Washing and bathing

5. Managing toilet needs

6. Dressing and undressing

7. Communicating verbally

8. Reading and understanding written information

9. Engaging with other people face to face

10. Making budgeting decisions

1. Planning and following journeys

2. Moving around

Worst day rule: where effects vary, the descriptor is chosen by your ability on the majority

of days — but a genuinely worse subset of days can still raise the score where the regulations

allow it. Record your variation honestly.

Reliability rule: you only score a descriptor if you can do the activity **safely, to an

acceptable standard, repeatedly, and within a reasonable time**. Pain, fatigue, breathlessness

and risk all count against reliability.

Aids and adaptations: the assessment assumes you use aids you reasonably need — including

things you don't own yet but should use.

The tribunal does not award points for conditions; it awards points for **function against these

descriptors**. A letter that says "diagnosis X, therefore I meet descriptor 6(c)" with one sentence

of daily reality is worth more than five pages about the illness.

*Source: SI 2013/377 Schedule 1, verified at legislation.gov.uk 2026-10-09.*

Independent information directory · Source-checked 2026-10-09 · Independent information — not legal or benefits advice; not affiliated with the DWP.