A worked example showing how each of the 12 PIP activities can be described for someone with a learning disability. Every answer is written in the first person, in the plain wording assessors look for, and each one weaves in the reliability factors that decide how an activity scores.
A learning disability affects how a person understands new or complicated information, learns new skills and copes on their own. It has been there since childhood and it does not come and go, so the form is not asking whether things will get better. It is asking what a normal day looks like and what support the person needs to get through it. (A learning disability is not the same as a learning difficulty such as dyslexia. This example is written for a learning disability.)
The most common problem with these forms is that they come back almost empty. The support has been in place for so many years that it stops feeling like support: someone else has always opened the post, held the bank card, ordered the tablets and reminded them to wash, and nobody thinks to write it down. An assessor reading that form sees a person managing well. Everything that family, a support worker or a day service quietly does needs to be on the page, along with what would happen if it stopped.
The second thing to know is that a short, polite conversation can hide a great deal. Many people with a learning disability will say they are fine, agree with whatever they are asked and answer yes because they do not want to seem unable to cope or to be any trouble. That deserves respect, not correcting. It is also exactly why the form needs to describe what actually happens, in plain detail, rather than what the person says they can do when someone asks them out of the blue.
Prompting and supervision count. Needing someone to remind you, start you off, explain something in simple words, repeat it another day, check you have understood or stay nearby while you do it is worth just as much on this form as being physically helped. So is risk. Being short-changed, being talked into handing money over, signing something you did not understand or not being safe near traffic are safety points, and they belong on the form.
Why "reliably" matters. An activity only counts as something you can do if you can do it safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time. Being shown how to do something once, or doing it with someone sitting alongside, is not the same as being able to do it alone and get it right every time. If you are a parent, carer or support worker writing this form, keep it in the first person as the person would say it, use their own words where you can, and be specific about who does what. The DWP always makes the final decision, but an accurate picture of an ordinary day gives the form the strongest chance of being understood.
What to cover for each one. Your paid form writes the full answers for you.
Describe what really happens in the kitchen: whether the person can be left alone with a hob, an oven or a sharp knife, whether they understand cooking times, raw meat or a pan left on the heat, and who has to be there with them. Mention the reminding needed to start at all and to eat at sensible times, and any near misses such as a burn, a scald or a pan boiled dry. The question is about making a simple meal from fresh ingredients, so say plainly whether that could be done without someone supervising, rather than whether a ready meal can be put in the microwave.
This question is only about the act of taking food and drink once a meal is in front of the person, since the cooking belongs above. What counts is food having to be cut up, help getting it to the mouth, or reminding and prompting before the person will eat or drink at all, and it is worth saying if they bolt food, choke, or would go all day without a drink unless somebody put one in front of them. If a meal is managed on their own with nobody having to remind or help, leave this one alone.
Explain who orders the prescriptions, collects them, works out the doses and hands the tablets over, and what would happen if nobody did it. Mention a dosette box, a chart, alarms or someone watching the tablets being taken, and whether the person understands what each medicine is for or would know to say when they feel unwell. If a condition needs keeping an eye on, name the person who actually notices the changes, because that is usually the carer rather than the claimant.
Say how much reminding it takes to wash at all, and how often washing simply does not happen when nobody prompts. Describe anything unsafe, such as not judging water temperature, slipping in the bath, or not understanding how to work the shower, and who has to stay in the room or within earshot. Mention the parts that get missed or washed poorly if nobody checks afterwards, and keep it to an ordinary day rather than the best day.
This one covers getting on and off the toilet, cleaning yourself afterwards and controlling the bladder and bowel. With a learning disability what usually counts is not the physical side but the prompting: needing to be reminded to go, not cleaning properly unless somebody checks, or accidents that a carer has to deal with, and any pads or a change of clothes that go everywhere with them. Write down anything that is genuinely happening, however awkward it feels. If the toilet is managed alone with no help and no accidents, leave this one alone.
Explain whether the person can choose clothes that suit the weather and the occasion, and what happens when nobody lays things out: the same clothes worn for days, clothes on inside out or back to front, or nothing warm in winter. Mention buttons, zips and laces, how long it takes, and the prompting needed to get started and to finish. Say who does that in practice and what the day looks like without them.
Be clear about the difference between everyday chat, which may be fine, and anything longer or more official, which is not: long sentences, several instructions at once, appointments, phone calls and forms. Explain that things have to be said in short simple words and repeated, and that the person may answer yes without having understood, so being agreeable gets mistaken for coping. Name the trusted person who has to be there to explain things and check the meaning has landed.
Describe how the person gets on with strangers and in groups, whether they can tell how others are behaving towards them, and whether they have been laughed at, taken advantage of or led into something they did not want. Mention who has to be with them before they will manage seeing people, and any upset, distress or shutting down that happens without that support. Keep this to being around people, not to how far they can walk.
Separate the journeys that are possible alone from the ones that are not: one familiar route with somebody waiting at both ends is very different from a new route, a change of bus or a diversion. Describe what happens when something goes wrong, such as getting lost, getting on the wrong bus, or not being able to ask anyone for help, and whether the person is safe crossing roads on their own. Remember this activity is about planning and following a route, not about how far someone can walk.
This activity is only about standing and physically walking, and a learning disability on its own does not usually affect the legs or balance. What counts is a physical condition alongside it, so if there is cerebral palsy, epilepsy, a heart or chest problem, joint pain or being very unsteady, say how far the person can walk before they have to stop and what makes them stop. Not being able to work out or follow the route belongs under planning and following a journey. If walking any normal distance is genuinely fine, leave this one alone.
The tips above are general pointers. Your paid form gives you a full, ready-to-copy answer for all 12 activities, written from your exact conditions, medication, aids and bad days, not a general example. This is a worked example for a learning disability; yours is written for you. £99.99 one-off.
This is a worked example, not a script. It shows one honest way a person with a learning disability might describe an ordinary day, so you can see the level of detail and the plain wording that assessors are trained to look for. Please do not copy it word for word. The answers should reflect this person: what they can genuinely do alone, what somebody else has always done for them, the words they would use themselves, and the help they need but do not get.
If you are a parent, a carer or a support worker filling the form in, two things help more than anything else. Write in the first person, as the person would say it, and be specific about who does what: who opens the post, who holds the card, who reminds them, who has to be in the room. Vague words like "struggles with money" tell an assessor almost nothing, while "my mother keeps my bank card and gives me cash each week because I emptied my account in two days" tells them everything. Where you can, sit with the person and use their own answers, and note anything they play down.
Notice that not every activity has to be claimed. Being honest about what a learning disability does not change makes the difficulties you do describe far more believable, so there is no need to stretch every question. If you would rather start from your own words, tell us about the health conditions and we will write the answers from them, in the same first-person style, ready for you to read, edit and copy onto the PIP2 claim form or the AR1 review form.
Tell us in your own words about your learning disability, or about the person you care for, and we will write one full activity for you, free, before you pay anything.
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