The Short Answer
The PIP review form asks how your condition affects you now, and must be returned within one month. GOV.UK calls it 'Personal Independence Payment Review'; the DWP's own documentation distinguishes an AR2 for a routine review from an AR1 for more complex changes. It is answered the same way as the original claim form: activity by activity, describing what happens when you attempt each task and how often.
What the Form Is
A fresh account of function, not a comparison with your last one. GOV.UK describes the review sequence as beginning with "a letter asking you to fill in a form called 'Personal Independence Payment Review'", to be filled in "using the notes that come with it".
The DWP's own review documentation names two forms. An AR2 is issued for a routine award review. The AR1 form is used for more complex changes of circumstances, described as "changes to medical conditions or the needs arising".
Last checked: 7 August 2026
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official name | Personal Independence Payment Review |
| Deadline | 1 month from issue |
| Extra time | Available from the PIP enquiry line, 0800 121 4433 |
| Payments meanwhile | Continue at the existing rate |
| Possible outcomes | Increased, unchanged, reduced or stopped |
How to Answer It
Activity by activity, describing the ordinary day. The review applies the same twelve activities and the same descriptors as the original claim, so an answer that scored well then will score well now if it is still accurate.
Four elements make an answer usable:
- What happens when you attempt the task, including what follows it.
- How many days a week the difficulty arises. The test is more than half.
- What help is needed, and who provides it — an aid, prompting, supervision or assistance.
- How long the task takes compared with someone without your condition.
The reliability criteria apply throughout. An activity that can be done once but not repeated, or not safely, or not to an acceptable standard, or not in a reasonable time, is not done at that descriptor level.
Where a Deterioration Belongs
In the section for the activity it affects, described as a change. A review is the moment an increase becomes possible, and increases at review are backdated to the date the changed entitlement arose.
Say what has changed, when, and what it means for the task. "Since last winter I have needed my partner to wash my hair, twice a week at first and now every time" is more useful than "my condition has got worse", because it names the activity, the help and the frequency.
Where an Improvement Belongs
In the same place, described accurately. Under-reporting an improvement risks an overpayment that has to be repaid, and GOV.UK notes that you may have to repay money where wrong information was given.
An improvement in one activity does not usually remove an award, because the score is a total across ten or two activities. Reporting it honestly and completely is both the required course and, in practice, the safer one.
Preparation Worth Doing
Find your last form, and read it before starting this one. A copy of the PIP2 you submitted originally is the single most useful document, because it shows the account the existing award was based on.
Where you no longer have it, the decision letter's points section serves the same purpose: it names the descriptor chosen for each activity, which tells you what the award currently rests on.
Then assemble anything new. GOV.UK asks for "any supporting information you have not shared with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) before", so previously sent documents do not need resending. Clinic letters, a changed prescription list, an occupational therapy assessment and a support plan are the usual additions.
After the Form
The DWP reviews it, and may arrange further contact. GOV.UK states that where more information is needed, "an independent health professional might phone you to ask some questions or send a letter inviting you to an assessment", which can be in person, over the phone or by video call.
A decision letter follows. It carries the same one-month deadline for a mandatory reconsideration as any other PIP decision, whichever way it goes.
The Wider Review Process
What triggers a review, what it can change and what happens to payments meanwhile are set out on the PIP Reviews page.
The review form asks the same questions as the original claim form, and the guidance for answering that one applies here too: The PIP2 Form.