A printable bring-sheet for telephone, video and face-to-face Work Capability Assessments - your key facts, worst incidents and typical day on paper, so the nerves cannot steal them.
The Work Capability Assessment is a conversation with consequences: what you say, and what the assessor observes, becomes the report your ESA or UC health claim is decided on. Under pressure, most people forget their worst days, minimise out of politeness, and remember the example they should have given on the way home. This companion fixes that - fill it in calmly before the day, keep it in front of you during (notes are normal and allowed), and capture what happened straight after.
What is inside
What actually happensWho the assessor is, how the appointment runs, the "typical day" technique, the informal observations that start before the first question - and the "I'm fine" reflex that quietly costs points.
Your bring-sheetOne page for your conditions, medication and side effects, aids and adaptations, and the people who help - short notes to jog your memory when you are nervous.
Worst incidents + typical dayThree dated real examples to reach for when a question comes, and your morning, evening and night sketched honestly before anyone asks.
After-notes that protect youSame-day notes on what was asked, what was cut short and what it cost you afterwards - the evidence a mandatory reconsideration is built from if the report gets it wrong.
Get the companion free
Enter your email and the PDF downloads straight away. Print it, fill it in at your own pace, and take it with you.
No spam - occasional ESA guidance only. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy
Assessors use the "typical day" question because open conversation reveals more than direct questions - including things that read as capability: "I manage", "I'm fine", "not too bad". With your facts already written down, you answer from your real record instead of your polite reflexes: the typical day including the bad days, the help you actually get, and what tasks cost you afterwards. And because assessment reports do get things wrong, the after-notes page turns your same-day memory into evidence you can use at mandatory reconsideration if you ever need it.
The sheet organises you. The form decides the claim.
Most WCA decisions lean heavily on the written evidence. See free how a strong WCA50 answer about your own conditions reads - the same picture your assessment is checked against.
Yes. Enter your email and the PDF downloads straight away - no payment, no card details. We fund it through our paid ESA guidance service. We may send occasional ESA guidance emails, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Can I have notes with me at a WCA assessment?+
Yes. Keeping notes in front of you is normal and allowed, whether the assessment is by telephone, video or face-to-face. You can also have someone with you, ask for breaks, and ask for questions to be repeated or rephrased. Nerves make people forget their worst days - notes are how you make sure the assessor still hears about them.
What should I prepare for a WCA assessment?+
Have your conditions and medication list to hand, the aids and adaptations you use, the people who help you, and two or three real dated examples of things going wrong. Be ready to describe a typical day honestly, including bad days and what tasks cost you afterwards. The companion gives you a page for each of these.
What if the assessor's report is wrong?+
It happens, and you can challenge the decision through mandatory reconsideration and appeal. Notes made on the day of the assessment - what was asked, what was cut short, what you noticed - carry far more weight later than memories from months after. The companion's after-notes page exists exactly for this.