The Short Answer
Sciatica claims are decided by the duration test more often than by the points. GOV.UK requires that you expect the difficulties to last at least 12 months from when they started, and sciatica frequently resolves sooner. Where the test is met, points come from moving around by distance and from the aid and assistance descriptors in dressing, washing and toilet needs. The calculator above scores the six activities involved.
How Sciatica Scores PIP Points
Six activities carry most sciatica claims, and all of them turn on bending, standing or walking. Moving around scores from 4 points above 50 metres to 12 points at 20 metres or less; the daily living activities score in 2 and 4-point steps. The table sets out what each activity assesses, the descriptors that turn on nerve pain and restricted movement, and what those descriptors are worth.
| Activity | What it assesses | Descriptors typically engaged | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobility 2 — Moving around | standing and then moving, judged without severe discomfort such as pain or fatigue | b, c, d, e | 4–12 |
| Daily living 6 — Dressing and undressing | dressing and undressing, which may involve stretching, reaching, bending and gripping | b, d | 2 |
| Daily living 4 — Washing and bathing | washing and bathing, including getting in and out of an unadapted bath or shower | b, d, e | 2–3 |
| Daily living 5 — Managing toilet needs or incontinence | getting on and off an unadapted toilet and cleaning afterwards | b, d | 2–4 |
| Daily living 1 — Preparing food | preparing and cooking a simple meal, including activities at or above waist height | b, c, e | 2–4 |
| Daily living 3 — Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition | managing medication and therapy at home, which includes physiotherapy | b, c, d | 1–4 |
Last checked: 7 August 2026
Where this mapping comes from
Descriptor letters and point values are reproduced from Schedule 1 of the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013. The activities listed are the ones whose published assessment guidance names the functions this condition is reported to affect. No activity is listed on any other basis.
Activities are numbered as Schedule 1 numbers them, within each component: daily living 1 to 10 and mobility 1 to 2.
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 12: “This activity considers a claimant's physical ability to move around without severe discomfort, such as breathlessness, pain or fatigue.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 6: “Dressing and undressing may involve stretching, reaching, bending, gripping and other such movements.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 4: “Consideration should be given to the claimant's functional restrictions to see if they: could reasonably use an aid such as a grab rail to get in or out of an unadapted bath or shower (4B) or whether they require assistance (4E) to get in and out of an unadapted bath or shower.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 5: “This activity considers a claimant's ability to get on and off the toilet, to manage evacuation of the bladder and/or bowel and to clean afterwards.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 1: “If an individual cannot cook at all because they have never needed to learn, consider their ability to carry out activities at or above waist height and their cognitive ability to use a stove or microwave if shown how.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 3: “Examples of therapy include physiotherapy, home dialysis and special diets where both attention to the nature and timing of food is integral in the management of the diet.”
Toilet needs is the row most often missed on a sciatica claim. It assesses getting on and off an unadapted toilet and cleaning afterwards, which is a bending task; it does not assess getting to the toilet, which is scored under moving around. The PIP points calculator scores all twelve activities.
Can You Get PIP for Sciatica?
Yes, where the difficulties are expected to last at least 12 months from when they started and apply on more than half of the days. Both tests must be met, and sciatica is the condition in this fleet most likely to fail the first one.
The clock runs from onset, not from the date of the claim. Symptoms that started nine months ago and are expected to continue satisfy the test on the day you claim. Symptoms expected to settle within a few months of onset do not, whatever their current severity.
What Rate Could Sciatica Get?
The rate follows the points in each component separately. Mobility pays £30.30 a week at the standard rate and £80.00 at the enhanced rate. Daily living pays £76.70 and £114.60.
Last checked: 6 August 2026
A claim scoring 8 points on moving around and 6 across dressing, washing and toilet needs receives the mobility standard rate only, at £30.30 a week. Two further daily living points would take that total to 8 and add £76.70 a week, which is £306.80 more every 4 weeks.
The 12-Month Test and Why It Decides Most Sciatica Claims
Sciatica claims fail on duration more often than on points, and the test is stated plainly. GOV.UK requires that "you expect the difficulties to last for at least 12 months from when they started". The clock runs from when the difficulties began, not from the date of the claim, so months already elapsed count toward the test rather than against it.
That framing matters because sciatica frequently improves. Where symptoms started nine months ago and are expected to continue, the test is met on the day of the claim. Where a decompression or discectomy is scheduled and recovery is expected within a few months of onset, it may not be, and a claim made anyway is answered on the same rules as any other.
The second test runs alongside it. GOV.UK states that PIP requires difficulty with tasks "more than half of the days over a 12-month period". A condition that flares for three weeks and settles for six does not meet that test even while the flare is severe, and a condition that limits the same activities on most days does, at whatever level of severity the descriptors describe.
Where the duration test is met, the scoring pattern is a physical one. Moving around carries the mobility component through the distance bands, and the daily living points normally come from aid and assistance descriptors in dressing, washing and toilet needs — the tasks that involve bending below the waist. Recording the walking distance and the sitting and standing tolerance on several different days answers both the descriptor and the reliability question at once.
Evidence That Supports a Sciatica Claim
Evidence of when the symptoms started matters as much as evidence of how severe they are. The duration test is the one this condition is most often refused on. GOV.UK requires that you expect the difficulties to last "at least 12 months from when they started", so the date of onset is as material as the severity.
- A GP record showing when the symptoms started and how long they have continued
- An MRI report, or a spinal or orthopaedic clinic letter
- A repeat prescription list covering analgesia and any nerve pain medication
- A physiotherapy referral or discharge letter, with the exercise regime and its weekly hours
- A record of any epidural injection, nerve root block or surgery, planned or completed
- A note of the distance you can walk and the time you can sit or stand, repeated on several days
Send what you already have rather than waiting for a new report. Evidence describing what you can do on an ordinary day answers the descriptors; the assessment weighs it against the reliability criteria.
Work Out the Full Picture
The tool above is pre-filtered; the assessment is not. All 12 activities are scored — 10 for daily living and 2 for mobility, set out in Schedule 1 of the PIP Regulations 2013 — and points from the two components never combine.
Where sciatica accompanies a longer-standing spinal condition, the claim usually reaches more than the six activities above. Two tools finish the picture:
- Score every activity in the PIP points calculator, which uses the same verbatim descriptors.
- Compare the pre-filtered tools on the all condition calculators page.
Where an award is already in place and was backdated, the work out your pip back pay tool prices the arrears.
Related guidance: check pip for sciatica.