WCA Activity 1: Mobilising Unaided - Descriptors, Points and Evidence

Mobilising is the very first activity in the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), and for many people with a physical condition it is the single most important one. It measures how far you can move on level ground, and whether you can manage two steps, using any aid you normally use but without help from another person. This guide explains exactly what the activity covers, the precise points attached to each descriptor, and how to describe your difficulties so that an assessor scores you fairly.

The WCA is the test that decides whether you have Limited Capability for Work. There are 17 activities in total - 10 physical and 7 mental, cognitive and intellectual. You need to reach 15 points across all of them to be found to have Limited Capability for Work. Mobilising can deliver all 15 points on its own, which is why getting it right matters so much.

The exact descriptors and points

These are the verbatim descriptors for Activity 1 from Schedule 2 of the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2013, the same wording the assessor and the DWP decision maker use. The activity is titled "Mobilising unaided by another person with or without a walking stick, manual wheelchair or other aid if such aid is normally, or could reasonably be, used."

In plain English:

• 15 points if you cannot manage more than about 50 metres without stopping for significant discomfort or exhaustion, or cannot repeat 50 metres soon after - or, separately, if you cannot get up or down two steps even holding a handrail.
• 9 points if your limit is around 100 metres, or if the two-steps descriptor applies.
• 6 points if your limit is around 200 metres.
• 0 points if none of those apply.

Note that descriptor (b), the two-steps test, scores 9 points and sits alongside the 100 metre descriptor. The two-steps descriptor is sometimes overlooked, but for people whose stairs are a bigger problem than distance - for example after a knee or hip problem, or with severe breathlessness - it can be the descriptor that fits best.

What "mobilising" really means

Mobilising is broader than walking. The descriptor specifically allows for a "walking stick, manual wheelchair or other aid if such aid is normally, or could reasonably be, used." So the question is not only how far you can walk but how far you can move yourself, by walking or by self-propelling a manual wheelchair, using the aids you would realistically use. What it does not allow is help from another person - that is the meaning of "unaided by another person."

Three phrases inside the descriptor do most of the work:

• "Without stopping to avoid significant discomfort or exhaustion." The trigger is not collapse. If you have to stop because of pain, breathlessness or exhaustion before you would otherwise want to, that counts as not being able to mobilise that distance.
• "Repeatedly within a reasonable timescale." Doing the distance once is not enough. If you could shuffle 50 metres but then need ten minutes sitting down before you could do it again, you cannot repeat it within a reasonable timescale and you meet the descriptor.
• "On level ground." The test is on the flat. If your local route involves a slope and that makes things worse, describe the flat-ground reality separately, because that is what the descriptor measures.

A worked example: how a real difficulty maps to points

Points only make sense once you see a real difficulty turn into a descriptor. Here is a composite example built from the kind of facts an assessor weighs. The figures are not invented - they are the descriptor points written into Schedule 2.

Imagine someone with severe osteoarthritis in both knees and COPD. On a typical day they can leave the front door and walk to the corner, roughly 40 to 50 metres, before knee pain and breathlessness force them to stop and lean on a wall. After a couple of minutes they can carry on, but only another short stretch, and they could not repeat the first 50 metres briskly. Stairs are worse: they take one step at a time, both feet to each step, gripping the handrail, and two normal steps already leave them breathless and in pain.

• Descriptor (a): because they cannot mobilise more than 50 metres without stopping for significant discomfort and exhaustion, and cannot repeat 50 metres within a reasonable timescale, they meet the 15 point descriptor. Fifteen points alone is enough to establish Limited Capability for Work.
• Descriptor (b): the stairs difficulty would also support the 9 point two-steps descriptor, but because only the single highest descriptor in an activity counts, the 15 points from (a) is what is recorded. You cannot add 15 and 9 together within the same activity.

The key learning is that you describe the distance you can genuinely sustain, including the repeat, not the absolute furthest you have ever managed on a good day.

The reliability test applied to mobilising

The single most important idea in the whole WCA is that you must be able to do an activity reliably, repeatedly, safely, in a reasonable time, and for the majority of the time. An assessor is not asking whether you could walk 50 metres once on your best day. They are asking whether you could do it day after day in a real working environment. Apply each limb to mobilising:

• Reliably. Can you cover the distance most days, or only on a rare good day? If most days you fall short, that is your real picture.
• Repeatedly. The descriptor explicitly includes repeated mobilising. If you can do it once but not again within a reasonable time because of pain or exhaustion, you meet it.
• Safely. If walking the distance brings a real risk of falling, or your breathlessness becomes dangerous, then doing it safely is in doubt.
• In a reasonable time. A distance that takes you five minutes of stopping and starting, when it should take one, is not being mobilised in a reasonable time.
• The majority of the time. This is the "more than half the days" rule. If your bad days outnumber your good ones, you should be assessed as you are on the bad days.

When you write your form, attach this test to your difficulty. Do not just say "I can walk a bit". Say "I can manage about 40 metres before I must stop for pain and breathlessness, I cannot repeat it without resting, and this is how I am most days."

Which conditions commonly score on mobilising

Any condition that limits how far you can move before significant discomfort, exhaustion or breathlessness is relevant here. The most common include:

• Joint and musculoskeletal conditions such as arthritis and chronic back pain, where pain or stiffness limits walking and stairs.
• Lung and heart conditions such as COPD and heart failure, where breathlessness is the limiting factor.
• Neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, spinal cord injury and neuropathy, where weakness, balance or sensation limit movement.
• Pain and fatigue conditions such as fibromyalgia and chronic pain, where pain and exhaustion build with every metre.

Evidence to gather

Mobilising is one activity where a short consultation rarely captures the truth, so good written evidence makes a real difference. Build it in layers:

• A letter or notes from your GP, physiotherapist or consultant describing your walking distance, the aids you use, and the cause - pain, breathlessness, weakness or fatigue.
• A record of a known route. Pick a route you know - the distance to the bus stop, the corner shop or the bathroom - and describe what happens when you try it: how far, what stops you, and what you need afterwards.
• A note of falls or near-falls, with dates if you can. Any A&E attendance or injury from a fall supports the safety angle.
• Your aids list: walking stick, frame, crutches or wheelchair, and whether they help or whether you still cannot manage the distance.
• A witness account from someone who walks with you and sees you stop, struggle or rest.

Send copies, never originals, and keep a list of what you submit. A clear description of one real route plus a supporting letter is already a strong foundation.

Common mistakes

• Describing your best day. The form should reflect a typical day, including the bad ones, not the one day a fortnight you managed the shops.
• Forgetting the repeat. People often say how far they can walk once and ignore that they cannot do it again soon after. The descriptor rewards the repeat - use it.
• Leaving out pain and breathlessness. The trigger is stopping to avoid significant discomfort or exhaustion, so name the discomfort, do not just give a distance.
• Ignoring the two-steps descriptor. If stairs are your real problem, descriptor (b) may fit even when distance does not.
• Overstating recovery. Saying "I just have a sit down and I'm fine" can read as no limitation. Describe how long you need and that you still cannot then repeat the distance.

How mobilising combines with other activities

Reaching 15 points is the goal, and points combine across the 17 activities. Both physical and mental descriptors are added together to reach the threshold. So even if mobilising only gives you 6 or 9 points, those can combine with points from, say, other physical activities like standing and sitting, or from a mental health activity, to clear 15.

Two rules govern this. First, only the single highest descriptor in each activity counts, so you cannot stack descriptor (a) and (b) within mobilising. Second, the totals from every activity are added together. If mobilising gives 9 and standing and sitting gives 9, you already have 18 and clear the threshold comfortably. Our guide to how points add up walks through this in detail.

Mobilising and the Support Group / LCWRA

Scoring 15 points puts you in the Work-Related Activity Group at minimum. To reach the Support Group on ESA (or the LCWRA group on Universal Credit), which pays more and has no work-related activity requirements, you normally need to meet a Schedule 3 descriptor. Schedule 3 includes a mobilising descriptor that mirrors the 50 metre and two-steps test. If you genuinely meet the 15 point mobilising level reliably and repeatedly, you should be considered for the Support Group. The Support Group rate is £145.90 per week, compared with £95.55 per week for the Work-Related Activity Group. Our Support Group guide explains how to make that case.

A note on WCA reform

The Work Capability Assessment is under reform, with changes proposed from 2025 onwards that may alter how some activities and descriptors are scored in future. The descriptors above reflect the current Schedule 2 rules. Always check GOV.UK for the latest position before relying on any specific figure.

Official sources

This guide reflects the official Work Capability Assessment rules. For the source material, see:

• GOV.UK - Employment and Support Allowance
• GOV.UK - Health conditions, disability and Universal Credit
• The Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2013 (Schedule 2 - WCA descriptors)
• Citizens Advice - Employment and Support Allowance

Guidance only, not legal advice. Rules can change - always check GOV.UK for the latest.

Frequently Asked Questions