The Short Answer
Tribunal questions test the descriptors, not the diagnosis. The panel has read the appeal papers, the assessment report and the DWP response before you arrive, so the questions go to what you can do, how often the difficulty arises, what help is involved and how long tasks take. Answers that name a task and its outcome are the ones the panel can score. Saying you do not know is a legitimate answer.
What the Panel Is Testing
Four things, asked activity by activity. Every question comes back to one of them, whatever form it takes.
| What is asked | Why |
|---|---|
| What happens when you attempt the task | Whether the descriptor is satisfied at all |
| How many days a week | The majority-of-days rule |
| What help you need, and from whom | Whether an aid, prompting, supervision or assistance descriptor applies |
| How long it takes, and what follows | The reliability criteria: safely, to standard, repeatedly, in time |
Last checked: 7 August 2026
GOV.UK describes the mechanics: "You'll be asked questions about your condition or circumstances by the judge or the experts." The DWP may attend and ask questions, but "they're not part of the tribunal and do not decide the result of the appeal".
Questions That Come Up
Everyday questions with a descriptor behind each one. The wording varies; the target does not. Every answer below is scored against Schedule 1 of the PIP Regulations 2013, which sets out the twelve activities and the point value of each descriptor.
"Tell us about a typical day"
Answer with a sequence, not a summary. Waking, getting up, washing, dressing, eating, and what each one involves. A summary invites the panel to fill the gaps; a sequence gives them the descriptors.
Give the ordinary day rather than the worst one. GOV.UK states the test as expecting difficulty "more than half of the days over a 12-month period", so the ordinary day is the one that decides the points.
"How far can you walk?"
Give a distance and the conditions attached to it. "About 30 metres, then I have to stop for a few minutes, and I could not do it again that afternoon" answers the descriptor. "Not far" does not.
The bands are fixed at 20, 50 and 200 metres, so a figure near a boundary matters. Use a reference distance you know rather than an estimate: the length of your street, or the distance to a particular shop.
"Who does the cooking?"
Say what you do, what someone else does, and what would happen without them. The activity assesses preparing and cooking a simple meal from fresh ingredients — opening packaging, peeling, chopping, and using a hob or microwave.
If you eat microwave meals because chopping is not possible, say exactly that. There is a descriptor for it, worth 2 points: cannot cook a simple meal using a conventional cooker but is able to do so using a microwave.
"Did you come here on your own?"
Answer the question, then answer the one behind it. Arriving accompanied or alone is an observation about one journey, not about the journeys activity.
Say who brought you, whether you could have made the journey alone, and what the day will cost you. A journey completed once with help does not establish that journeys are manageable: the assessment guide requires consideration of whether an activity can be repeated "within a reasonable period of time and to the same standard".
"What medication are you on?"
Give the list, and say who manages it. The medication descriptor turns on whether supervision, prompting or assistance is needed to take it, not on what is prescribed.
A dosette box filled by someone else, or a partner who reminds you daily, is the answer to the question the descriptor asks, and it is worth 1 point under the managing therapy activity.
How to Answer Well
Three habits, all of them ordinary. None involves preparation beyond knowing your own case.
Answer what was asked, then add the qualifier. "Can you make a cup of tea?" answered "yes" reads as full function; answered "yes, but I use a kettle tipper and I have scalded myself twice" answers the safety limb of regulation 4 as well, and the kettle tipper is an aid worth 2 points in its own right.
Say when you do not know. An estimate offered under pressure and later contradicted is worse than "I am not sure, but it is around ten minutes".
Bring your papers. A copy of the PIP2 form, a medication list and any diary you kept can be referred to during the hearing. Checking a date is not a weakness.
What Not to Do
Do not minimise, and do not exaggerate. Both distort the record, and panels are experienced at spotting the difference between a description and a performance.
Minimising is the more common of the two, because most people describe themselves in the terms they use socially. "I manage" is a polite answer to a social question and a damaging answer to a descriptor question, because regulation 4 requires an activity to be done safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time before it counts as done.
Before the Hearing
Read your own appeal papers again, and the assessment report. The panel will refer to both, and knowing where the report differs from your account lets you address it directly rather than being surprised by it. GOV.UK advises sending any evidence "as soon as you can before the hearing", because a late submission is one of the three named causes of delay.
What happens on the day, who is present and what expenses can be claimed are set out on The PIP Tribunal page. The whole route with its deadlines is on the appeal journey hub.