PIP activity 11: Planning and following journeys

What this activity looks at

Whether you can plan a route and follow it. This activity covers mental health, cognitive and sensory difficulties with getting around. How far you can physically walk is covered by activity 12, not this one.

• Planning a route in advance
• Leaving home and starting a journey
• Following the route once you’re on your way

Descriptors and points

The assessor picks the one descriptor that best fits you on most days. Only the highest-scoring descriptor that applies counts; points aren’t added up within an activity.

What the assessor takes into account

• “Overwhelming psychological distress” means distress so severe that you can’t function, not just anxiety or worry.
• Where a descriptor says “any journey” (11B and 11E), it means every journey on a given day.
• 11D and 11F only apply if you genuinely can’t manage without someone with you. Preferring company isn’t enough.
• Orientation aids have to be specialist, like a long cane for a visual impairment. Standard sat navs and phone maps don’t count.
• Coping with small changes, like roadworks or a platform change, is part of following a route. Not being able to handle them is relevant.
• Confusion after a seizure is relevant to whether you can make a journey safely.
• Activities 11 and 12 aren’t either/or. You can score on both.

How to describe this on your form

• Describe your worst days, not your best or average days. A descriptor applies if it’s true on more than half of days, and that includes conditions that vary or come in flare-ups.
• An activity only counts as something you can do if you can do it safely, repeatedly, to an acceptable standard, and in a reasonable time (no more than twice as long as someone without your condition). If any of these isn’t true on most days, say so and explain why.
• Be specific. Give distances, how long things take, how often problems happen, and examples of things that have gone wrong.
• Name any help you need using the words the DWP uses: supervision, prompting, assistance, or aids and appliances. “My partner helps me” is too vague; say what they do and why.
• Describe what your condition stops you doing, not just its name. Assessors score how your condition affects you, not the diagnosis.
• Avoid phrases like “I manage”, “I cope”, “I try my best” or “I sometimes have difficulty”. They suggest you can do the activity, and can cost you points.

How points turn into an award

Your points from activities 11 and 12 are added together for the mobility component.

• 8 to 11 points: standard rate, £29.20 a week
• 12 points or more: enhanced rate, £77.05 a week

2026/27 rates. Estimate your points across all 12 activities.