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PIP / UC Workshop Slides

Created: 21/11/2025, Bright Futures @Ruils

Who by? Bright Futures @Ruils

Why might it be of interest?

Completing a PIP application form is something of an art and there’s currently not much support to help people do it themselves.

Despite much news around this benefit in the summer of 2025 no changes have actually been made to the application process or the points based system and nothing will change until after a government report due in the autumn of 2026.

However, it will undoubtedly become harder for people to get enough points to be entitled to PIP.  In my opinion this will affect our more able young people most and those whose condition varies.  But with the right approach and support you still have a very good chance of your young person being considered eligible.

There are a lot of guides if you google but we recommend the Benefits and Work guides as they are very comprehensive.  They are behind a paywall which is £19.95 per year for access to all their guides.

They do have ‘PIP test’ which is free to do and that can be helpful to help you see how many points your young person might get.

The UC part of this workshop is very much an overview of the process but I think there’s enough information here that the actual claim won’t be too much of a surprise to you!

PIP / UC Slides

Slide 2 PIP: What is this benefit?

  • PIP is a disability benefit
  • It is not means tested
  • It is intended to help with the additional costs that come with being disabled
  • It is not taxable or counted as income when claiming other benefits
  • The daily living element is counted as income for the social care financial assessment
  • Each activity is assessed and a young person is given points depending on what they can do
  • 8 points for standard PIP
  • 12 points for enhanced PIP
  • DWP Appointee to manage a young person’s benefits

Slide 3 PIP: PIP forms

PIP1:  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/example-pip1-claim-form

PIP2:  https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6602af72f1d3a09b1f32ac81/pip2-form-and-information-booklet__1_.pdf

Slide 4 PIP: Daily Living Activities

  • Preparing Food
  • Taking nutrition
  • Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition
  • Washing and bathing
  • Managing toilet needs or incontinence
  • Dressing and undressing
  • Talking, listening and understanding (communicating verbally)
  • Reading (and understanding signs, symbols and words)
  • Mixing with other people (engaging with other people face to face)
  • Managing money (making budgeting decisions)

Slide 5 PIP: Mobility questions

  • Planning and following journeys
  • Moving around

Slide 6 PIP: Reliably is the key word

For each activity you need to consider – can the young person do the activity:

  • Safely
  • To an acceptable standard
  • Repeatedly
  • Within a reasonable time period

If any of the above apply then they can’t do the activity RELIABLY

Slide 7 PIP: DWP Definitions

Aid or appliance

  • means any device which improves, provides or replaces your impaired physical or mental function; and
  • includes a prosthesis

Assistance means physical intervention by another person and does not include speech

Prompting means reminding, encouraging or explaining by another person

Supervision means the continuous presence of another person for the purpose of ensuring your safety

Unaided means without:

  • the use of an aid or appliance; or
  • supervision, prompting or assistance

Slide 8 PIP: Question 6 – Washing and bathing

This question is about your ability to wash and bathe. Wash includes washing your body, face, limbs, underarms and hair. Bathe means getting into and out of both a normal bath and a normal shower.

Aids and appliances for this activity include things like shower seats and grab rails.

Help for this activity might include someone:

  • prompting, encouraging or reminding you to wash and bathe yourself or how to do it
  • supervising you to make sure you are safe
  • physically washing or bathing you

We know that talking about your personal needs can be difficult, but we need you to tell us as much as you can on the form

Slide 9 PIP: Q6 Descriptors and points

a        Can wash and bathe unaided – 0 points

b        Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to wash or bathe – 2 points

c        Needs supervision or prompting to be able to wash or bathe – 2 points

d        Needs assistance to be able to wash either their hair or body below the waist – 2 points

e        Needs assistance to be able to get in or out of a bath or shower – 3 points

f         Needs assistance to be able to wash their body between the shoulders and waist – 4 points

g        Cannot wash and bathe at all and needs another person to wash their entire body – 8 points

Slide 10 PIP: How to answer

  • What condition causes the problem
  • What are the problems you have
  • Do you use aids and appliances
  • Should you have help from another person – doesn’t matter if you do but should you
  • Is there a particular time of day when you have problems
  • Do your abilities vary

Slides 11, 12, 13 PIP: Q6 Examples:

  • I have a severe learning disability and am not able to learn the steps involved in washing myself properly
  • I can stand in the shower but I don’t wash myself
  • Aids and appliances wouldn’t help as I wouldn’t understand how to use them
  • I need help from another person to wash the whole of my body

 

  • Because of my obsessive compulsive disorder it takes me a long time to bathe as I must follow a strict order of washing and a number of times
  • If I am interrupted or are not sure I have done it properly I need to start again
  • Aids and appliances would not help me
  • I have this problem every day

 

  • You may have a physical disability which means you can’t wash parts of your body
  • Or you are unsafe in a bath or shower on your own – eg slipping
  • You can’t get in or out of a bath
  • Can you check water temperature – do you even understand the need

Slide 14 PIP: Communicating verbally – talking, listening and understanding

This activity is about your ability to reliably speak in a way that people will understand and also to understand what other people are saying to you

Descriptors and points

  • Can express and understand verbal information unaided – 0 points
  • Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to speak or hear – 2 points
  • Needs communication support to be able to express or understand complex verbal information – 4 points
  • Needs communication support to be able to express or understand basic verbal information – 8 points
  • Cannot express or understand verbal information at all even with communication support – 12 points

Slide 15 PIP: Q9 Examples:

  • Because of my health condition I can’t produce clear speech
  • Because of my learning disability I have can’t understand what people say to me even when they use simple language
  • My speech is slurred and slow
  • People have to repeat things clearly and slowly
  • I can understand better when I know someone well and they use the words I do understand along with gestures and pictures
  • And they can understand what my gestures and facial expressions mean
  • I have this problem all of the time

Slide 16 PIP: Question 11 Mixing with other people

This activity is about your ability to reliably get on with other people when you are face-to-face with them, whether this is meeting with friends or attending a medical examination

Descriptors and points

  • Can engage with other people unaided – 0 points
  • Needs prompting to be able to engage with other people – 2 points
  • Needs social support to be able to engage with other people – 4 points
  • Cannot engage with other people due to such engagement causing either –
    • overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant; or
    • the claimant to exhibit behaviour which would result in a substantial risk of harm to the claimant or another person – 8 points

Slide 17 PIP: Q11 Examples:

  • You may misunderstand or can’t interpret facial expressions or body language
  • You may experience severe anxiety
  • You may cause offence without meaning to
  • You misunderstand what people say and get angry or upset
  • You are shy or anxious and can’t make eye contact
  • You say what you think other people want to hear – even if that causes you difficulties
  • You suffer from extreme fatigue or poor concentration
  • You avoid things like shopping, using public transport or going out at times and to places where you might encounter people you know

Slide 18 PIP: Q11 Examples:

  • Because of my ASD I find social interactions confusing and difficult
  • Because of my depression I have become isolated and get anxious at the thought of seeing people – even people I know well
  • Because of my ADHD I find it hard to control my temper
  • I get angry and irritated for minor reasons and overreact which causes other people to avoid me
  • I obsess for days before meeting people about how to behave, what to say, strategies to cope
  • I go out very little and when I do go out I go at times when I’m less likely to bump into people I know
  • I am frightened for days beforehand when I have a medical appointment
  • I get so worried I can’t eat and I am sick

Slide 19 PIP: Mobility questions

2 questions:

  • Planning and following a journey
    • Does not include your physical ability to move around
  • Moving around

8 points for standard mobility

12 points for enhanced mobility

Slide 20 PIP: Planning and following a journey

  1. Can plan and follow the route of a journey unaided – 0 points
  2. Needs prompting to be able to undertake any journey to avoid overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant – 4 points
  3. Cannot plan the route of a journey – 8 points
  4. Cannot follow the route of an unfamiliar journey without another person, assistance dog or orientation aid –10 points
  5. Cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant – 10 points
  6. Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid – 12 points

 Slide 21 PIP: Moving around

  1. Can stand and then move more than 200 metres, either aided or unaided – 0 points
  2. Can stand and then move more than 50 metres but no more than 200 metres, either aided or unaided – 4 points
  3. Can stand and then move unaided more than 20 metres but no more than 50 metres – 8 points
  4. Can stand and then move using an aid or appliance more than 20 metres but no more than 50 metres – 10 points
  5. Can stand and then move more than 1 metre but no more than 20 metres, either aided or unaided – 12 points
  6. Cannot, either aided or unaided, –

(i) stand; or

(ii) move more than 1 metre – 12 points

Slide 22 PIP: Planning a journey – Examples

  • Because I have learning disabilities it is not safe for me to undertake a journey to an unfamiliar place on my own
  • I find crowds and busy or noisy places distressing and I will start to flap / repeat the same word over and over / be verbally aggressive
  • I get lost easily because of my poor spatial skills and poor short term memory
  • If someone is with me they can make sure I don’t get confused or lost
  • I am not safe out in public on my own as I don’t understand common dangers such as traffic, cycles, stranger danger so I am very vulnerable to incidents
  • My sight has been affected by my retinopathy and I have blurred and obscured vision so I cannot see everyday obstacles clearly enough to avoid them so I will trip over or bump into them
  • Just thinking of going out makes me very anxious and I start to have a panic attack

Slide 23 PIP: Moving around – Examples

  • Because of my disability I experience a great deal of pain when walking
  • My condition is worse in the morning but only a little better as the day goes on and I am affected every day
  • Because of my disability I tire very easily
  • I can only move slowly from room to room indoors
  • Out of doors I can only walk about 100 metres before becoming very fatigued and then will have to spend the rest of the day in bed
  • I may have 2-3 better days as long as I have not over exerted myself
  • Because of my disability I get breathless on any exertion and have to stop after a few minutes or walking 20 metres

Slide 24 PIP: Evidence

  • EHCP
  • Care Plan
  • Social Worker letters
  • GP and medical reports – including therapy reports
  • School reports or letters of support
  • Letters from employers
  • Information from providers of extra curricular activities
  • Childminder / nanny
  • YOUR DAY TO DAY EXAMPLES

Slide 25 PIP: A bit of general advice

  • Don’t miss the deadline – Get an extension – 2 weeks
  • Read the guide that comes with the PIP2 form
    • It is surprisingly helpful!
  • Draft your answer on separate paper – don’t start filling in the form until you are sure
  • Type up your answers and staple them into the form if needed
  • Use additional sheets of paper if you need more space
    • Put your name and NI number on each additional sheet
  • Keep a copy of your forms
  • Have a file to keep all forms, letters, etc
  • Keep a record of any phone calls or emails

Slide 26 PIP: Resources

Benefits & Work PIP guide:

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/

Parent / carer subscription is £19.95 per year

Benefits & Work PIP test:

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-self-test

PIP Points Information:

https://ruils.co.uk/article/pip-points-information/

Slide 27 PIP: Freedom Pass

There are 7 categories of eligibility for a Disabled Persons Freedom Pass that automatically qualify:

  • If you are blind or partially sighted
  • If you are profoundly or severely deaf
  • If you are without speech
  • If you have a disability or injury which has a substantial and long-term adverse affect on your ability to walk
  • If you do not have arms or have long term loss of the use of both arms
  • If you have a learning disability (that is, a state of arrested or incomplete development of mind which includes significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning)
  • If you would, if you applied for the grant of a licence to drive a motor vehicle under Part III of the Road Traffic Act 1988, have your application refused pursuant to section 92 of the Act (physical fitness) otherwise than on the ground of persistent misuse of drugs or alcohol

Universal Credit

Slide 28 – 1 UC: What is it?

  • It is an income replacement benefit
  • It is a monthly benefit for people who are out of work
  • That might be because:
    • they can’t work
    • they don’t currently have a job
  • Or on a low income, insufficient to support themselves

Slide 29 – 2 UC: Who is eligible?

  • Live in the UK
    • There may further requirements if you are not a UK citizen or new to the country
  • Over 18 (and under pension age)
  • Have less than £16,000 in savings
  • Students who already receive ESA and receive a migration notice to claim UC
  • Students who have an established limited capability work; in receipt of PIP; and BEFORE they start their course

Who is NOT eligible?

In general STUDENTS

Slide 30 – 3 UC: New-style ESA, credits only

This is a work around to set a young person up to be eligible to claim UC when they leave school even if they are going on to further studies

  • In receipt of PIP
  • Likely to be deemed to have a limited capability for work

The claim triggers a Work Capability Assessment to determine if a young person is:

  • Fit for work
  • Limited capability for work
  • Limited capability for work related activities

Further information:  https://ruils.co.uk/article/uc-and-students/

Slide 31 – 4 UC: Once the claim is completed:

  • You will receive payment once a month, on the same date each month
  • Your claim is managed through your online account
  • Messages to and from the job centre via the journal
  • Payment details in the payments section
  • Check every day or so while the claim is in progress
  • Weekly once completed should be enough

Slide 32 – 5 UC: Making the claim

  • Done online
  • You start by creating an account
  • This should be in your young person’s name
  • Although may well be your contact details and email address

Complete a series of questions

  • It doesn’t have to be done in one go
    • But must be completed within 28 days of starting
    • Or you have to start over again

Login regularly during the claim

Slide 33 – 6 UC: Categories of questions

  • Nationality
  • Housing
  • Children and other people who live with you
  • Work and earnings
  • Bank account details
  • Monday, savings and investments
  • Income other than earnings
  • Education and Training
  • Health
  • Caring for someone

Remember this is all about your young person

 You don’t need to do it all in one sitting

 You will be able to review your answers before submitting

 Slide 34 – 7 UC: UC – Information to have to hand

  • Have all you need to hand before you start
  • See the online guide in the resources for a pretty comprehensive list
  • Things like:
    • Housing costs – rent, bills, service charges
    • Tenancy agreement – who is on the tenancy, landlord details
    • How much you earn, sick pay, holiday pay
    • ALL savings, investments, etc
    • Amounts, account numbers

 Slide 35 – 8 UC: UC – Health needs and / or disability

  • List ALL the young person’s health needs and disabilities
  • You will have to get a fit note from your GP
    • This is your evidence that you cannot work
    • It will have a start and end date
    • Ideally for 3 months or so
    • Otherwise you may need to get further fit notes until your claim is completed
  • This will be followed by a Work Capability Assessment to determine if you are:
    • Fit for work
    • Have a limited capability for work
    • Have a limited capability for work related activity

Slide 36 – 9 UC: After submitting the claim

Doesn’t appear to be a standard process!

ID Verification

  • You may be able to complete this online
  • I took it to mean proving Sophie’s ID but in fact, as her DWP Appointee, I think it was my ID that needed verifying and I could have done that online
  • If you are not the DWP Appointee it will be your young person’s ID

What might happen:

  • You have an appointment at the Job Centre to prove id
  • You have a telephone appointment for the same
  • You may need to go into the Job Centre with your young person
  • You may not need to have your young person with you

List of documents for ID verification if not online:

https://www.gov.uk/jobcentre-plus-interview

Slide 37 – 10 UC: UC Resources

Slide 38 – 11 UC: PIP and UC – What’s Changing?

PIP

  • Nothing is changing right now
  • Awaiting the Timms report in Autumn 2026

UC

  • Rates will increase in April 2026
  • Under 22s will not be paid the LCWRA (health) element even if eligible
  • LCWRA (health) element will be paid at £50pw – about half the current rate – for new applicants
  • Existing claimants are not affected by this change

 

Categories: Benefits, Financial Matters, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Universal Credit (UC), Workshop Presentation Notes

Tags: benefits, pip, uc