PIP mobility activities
The mobility component has just two activities, but either one on its own can carry the whole component to the enhanced rate. They are scored separately and then added together, like the daily living activities.
Activity 1 — Planning and following journeys
This activity is about the mental, cognitive and sensory side of getting out: planning a route, following it, and coping with the journey. It has nothing to do with walking distance.
| What applies | Points |
|---|---|
| Can plan and follow the route of a journey unaided | 0 |
| Needs prompting to undertake any journey to avoid overwhelming psychological distress | 4 |
| Cannot plan the route of a journey | 8 |
| Cannot follow the route of an unfamiliar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid | 10 |
| Cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress | 10 |
| Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid | 12 |
Activity 2 — Moving around
This activity is about the physical act of standing and then moving, on a level surface, judged with the reliability test. The distances are the whole story:
| What applies | Points |
|---|---|
| Can stand and then move more than 200 metres, aided or unaided | 0 |
| Can stand and then move more than 50 metres but no more than 200 metres, aided or unaided | 4 |
| Can stand and then move unaided more than 20 metres but no more than 50 metres | 8 |
| Can stand and then move using an aid or appliance more than 20 metres but no more than 50 metres | 10 |
| Can stand and then move more than 1 metre but no more than 20 metres, aided or unaided | 12 |
| Cannot, aided or unaided, stand, or move more than 1 metre | 12 |
The 20-metre line matters more than any other number in PIP. If you cannot reliably move more than 20 metres on most days, that descriptor alone gives 12 points — the enhanced mobility rate — whatever your other scores. Equally, being able to cover 100 metres on a rare good day does not count if your reliable distance, day after day, is 30 metres: the descriptor follows the reliable distance, not the best one.
Sources
Official sources for the figures on this page: GOV.UK — Personal Independence Payment; nidirect — Personal Independence Payment (Northern Ireland); DWP — Annual Benefits Statistics Compendium 2026.