PIP activity 4: Washing and bathing
Washing and bathing is activity 4 of the 12 PIP activities, and counts towards the daily living component. Washing your whole body and getting in or out of an unadapted bath or shower. Here’s what it covers, the descriptors and the points each one scores, and what assessors look for.
What this activity looks at
Whether you can wash your whole body, and get into and out of an unadapted bath and an unadapted shower.
It doesn’t cover: Shaving, drying yourself, styling your hair, and using adapted facilities.
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.
| Descriptor | What it means | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 4A | I can wash and bathe unaided | 0 |
| 4B | I need an aid or appliance to wash or bathe | 2 |
| 4C | I need supervision or prompting to wash or bathe | 2 |
| 4D | I need assistance to wash my hair or body below the waist | 2 |
| 4E | I need assistance to get in or out of the bath or shower | 3 |
| 4F | I need assistance to wash between my shoulders and waist | 4 |
| 4G | I cannot wash or bathe at all — someone needs to wash my entire body | 8 |
What the assessor takes into account
- Bathing means getting into and out of both an unadapted bath and an unadapted shower.
- A wet room isn’t an unadapted shower. Needing one is evidence that you can’t use a standard shower.
- Most people can’t reach their upper back, so that alone doesn’t score.
- A shower seat, grab rail or long-handled sponge counts as an aid (4B).
- Needing prompting to wash because of your mental health or low motivation scores 4C.
- If you’re deaf and need a visual fire alarm to bathe safely, that can count as an aid (4B).
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 1 to 10 are added together for the daily living component.
- 8 to 11 points: standard rate, £73.90 a week
- 12 points or more: enhanced rate, £110.40 a week
2026/27 rates. Estimate your points across all 12 activities.
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