WCA Activity 13: Initiating and Completing Personal Action

Activity 13 is one of the 17 activities in the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), the test that decides whether you have Limited Capability for Work for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit. Its full name is "initiating and completing personal action (which means planning, organisation, problem solving, prioritising or switching tasks)". In plain English, this activity asks whether impaired mental function stops you getting going on a task and seeing it through. It is not about whether your hands or legs work. It is about the mental machinery of starting, sequencing and finishing.

This is one of the most underclaimed activities on the whole assessment, because many people who genuinely cannot organise their day still describe themselves as "able to manage". This guide explains exactly what the descriptors say, how to score points on Activity 13, the conditions that commonly affect it, and how it adds up with the rest of the assessment towards the 15-point threshold for Limited Capability for Work.

What Activity 13 actually measures

A "personal action" means one of five things: planning, organising, problem-solving, prioritising, or switching tasks. A "sequential personal action" means more than one of these, carried out one after another in the right order. The classic example is preparing a meal: you decide to cook (initiate), then plan what you need, gather it, and follow the steps in order (complete the sequence). The activity looks at whether impaired mental function - low mood, anxiety, brain fog, poor concentration, poor working memory, executive dysfunction - stops you doing two such steps reliably.

Crucially, this is a mental and cognitive activity, not a physical one. Someone with no physical limitation at all can score the maximum here if their mind will not let them begin or finish things. Equally, the activity is not about intelligence or whether you understand a task. It is about whether you can actually carry it out from start to finish without it falling apart.

The Activity 13 descriptors and their exact point values

These are the verbatim descriptors from Schedule 2 of the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2013. Only the single highest-scoring descriptor that applies to you counts towards your total.

In plain English:

• 15 points - You essentially cannot, because of your mental state, reliably start and finish a two-step sequence. This is not "sometimes struggle"; it is that the breakdown happens whenever you try, so it cannot be relied on at all.
• 9 points - You cannot do it for the majority of the time, meaning on more than half of occasions or more than half the days the sequence fails because of impaired mental function.
• 6 points - You frequently cannot do it. This is less than "majority of the time" but still a regular, repeated failure rather than an occasional bad day.

A worked example: how a real difficulty maps to points

Points only make sense when you see how an everyday difficulty turns into a specific 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 depression and ADHD. On a typical morning they intend to do the washing up. They run the water, then become distracted and wander off; the bowl sits full all day. They mean to pay a bill, open the laptop, freeze at the first decision, and close it again. They start three things and finish none. A meal often does not happen because the sequence of deciding, gathering and cooking collapses before it begins.

• Activity 13: the relevant question is how often impaired mental function stops them reliably initiating or completing at least two sequential personal actions. If this happens on most days - they abandon tasks part-way the majority of the time - the 9-point descriptor fits. If the breakdown is so consistent that they cannot reliably complete any two-step sequence at all without someone standing over them, the 15-point descriptor applies. Note that 15 points on this single activity is enough on its own to establish Limited Capability for Work.
• How it combines: this person's depression and anxiety are likely to score on other mental activities too, such as Activity 11 (learning tasks), Activity 14 (coping with change) and Activity 16 (coping with social engagement). Mental and physical descriptors are added together across all 17 activities, so Activity 13 rarely stands alone for someone with a significant mental health condition.

If the 15-point Activity 13 descriptor applies, there is a second prize: this descriptor also appears in Schedule 3, which governs the Support Group on ESA and the LCWRA group on Universal Credit. Meeting it should place you in the higher-paying group with no work-related requirements.

The reliability test applied to Activity 13

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 the majority of the time. An assessor is not asking whether you could start and finish a task once on a good day. They are asking whether you could do it day after day in a real job. For Activity 13 this test does a great deal of work, because executive function fluctuates and is easy to overstate.

• Reliably. If you can sometimes complete a sequence but cannot count on it, you do not do it reliably. An employer needs to depend on a task being finished; describe the times it is not.
• Repeatedly. Managing one sequence in the morning but having nothing left for the afternoon is a failure of repetition. A working day demands the same focus again and again.
• In a reasonable time. If a two-step task that should take ten minutes takes you all afternoon because you keep stalling and restarting, you are failing the descriptor even if it eventually gets done.
• The majority of the time. This is the "more than half the days" rule. If your bad days, foggy days and abandoned-task days together outnumber your functional days, the law says you should be assessed as you are on those days.

When you write your form, attach this test to each difficulty. Do not just write "I struggle to get things done". Write "I cannot reliably start and finish a sequence of tasks because I lose focus part-way through, and this happens on most days". That phrasing speaks the assessment's own language.

Which conditions commonly score on Activity 13

Any condition that impairs motivation, planning, concentration, working memory or the ability to switch attention can affect this activity. The most common are:

• Depression - loss of motivation and the inability to initiate tasks is a core symptom; see our guide to ESA for depression.
• ADHD - executive dysfunction makes initiating, sequencing and finishing tasks genuinely difficult; see ESA for ADHD.
• Autism - task initiation, switching and sequencing can be impaired even when intelligence is high; see ESA for autism.
• Schizophrenia and other psychosis - negative symptoms such as avolition directly affect initiating and completing action; see ESA for schizophrenia.
• Bipolar disorder - both depressive and manic phases disrupt the ability to plan and follow a sequence reliably; see ESA for bipolar disorder.
• Brain injury, stroke and dementia - executive function and working memory are commonly damaged; see ESA for stroke.
• Chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia - cognitive symptoms ("brain fog") interrupt planning and concentration.

Evidence to gather

Activity 13 is almost invisible in a short consultation, because no assessor can watch you fail to start the washing up over the course of a week. That makes written evidence and your own account decisive. Build it in layers.

• A task diary. Over a typical month, note the things you intended to do, what you actually started, and what you abandoned half-finished. Patterns are far more convincing than a single sentence on a form.
• Your GP, psychiatrist or community mental health team. A letter confirming your diagnosis, symptoms and how they affect daily functioning carries real weight.
• Your medication list. Name your medication and any side effects that worsen concentration or motivation, such as sedation.
• A care or support plan. If a social worker, support worker or family member prompts you through daily tasks, the existence of that support is itself evidence you cannot do them reliably alone.
• A witness statement. Someone who lives with you can describe the unfinished tasks, the prompting you need, and the days nothing gets done.

Send copies, never originals, and keep a list of everything you submit. Our ESA evidence checklist sets out how to assemble all of this.

Common mistakes on Activity 13

• Saying "I can cook" or "I can manage". If you only manage with constant prompting, or you start and abandon tasks all day, you do not do it reliably. Describe the reality, not the theory.
• Forgetting the role of prompting. Needing someone to remind you to start, keep you on track, and bring you back when you drift is central to this activity. Spell out exactly what would not happen without that prompting.
• Describing only one task. The descriptor is about sequential actions - at least two steps. Give examples that show the sequence breaking down, not just a single chore.
• Underplaying frequency. "Sometimes I struggle" reads as occasional. If it is most days, say "most days" so the assessor can reach the 9-point or 15-point descriptor.
• Ignoring the reliability test. Can you do it every day, repeatedly, in a reasonable time? If not, say so explicitly.

How Activity 13 combines with other activities

You qualify for Limited Capability for Work if you score 15 points in total across the 17 activities, and physical and mental descriptors are added together. Activity 13 rarely sits alone. A person whose mental function is impaired enough to fail this activity is usually affected on neighbouring mental activities too:

• Activity 11 (learning tasks) - if you cannot learn how to do a moderately complex task.
• Activity 14 (coping with change) - if unexpected change derails you.
• Activity 16 (coping with social engagement) - if contact with others causes significant distress.
• Activity 15 (getting about) - if anxiety stops you reaching places without being accompanied.

A 6-point Activity 13 descriptor plus a 9-point descriptor on another activity already reaches the 15-point threshold. For a fuller picture of how points stack, see our guides on how many points you need for ESA and the WCA descriptors explained.

The Support Group and the substantial-risk route

Activity 13 has a special status because it is one of the activities listed in Schedule 3, which controls the Support Group on ESA (the LCWRA group on Universal Credit). If you meet the descriptor "cannot, due to impaired mental function, reliably initiate or complete at least 2 sequential personal actions", you should be placed in the Support Group, which pays the higher rate and carries no work-related requirements. See our guide on how to qualify for the Support Group.

Even if you do not quite meet a Schedule 3 descriptor, the substantial-risk rule can still apply. If being found capable of work-related activity would put your mental health at substantial risk, you can be treated as having Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity on those grounds alone.

The consultation and challenging a decision

Most assessments are now carried out by telephone or as a paper-based review of your form and evidence, although a face-to-face appointment is still possible. For an activity as internal as this one, what you have written matters enormously, because an assessor cannot observe executive dysfunction over the phone. Answer for your typical and worst days, not your best one, and if you have memory or concentration problems it is reasonable to have someone with you to prompt you. See what to say at your WCA assessment.

If the decision is wrong, you can challenge it in two stages. First, Mandatory Reconsideration: ask the DWP to look again, normally within one month, setting out which descriptors you believe you meet and why. If that does not fix it, you can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal, an independent panel that includes a doctor. Many mental-health decisions are overturned at tribunal because a panel can take the time to understand impairments that a brief consultation misses. See our Mandatory Reconsideration guide and ESA tribunal guide.

How much could your ESA be worth?

The amount depends on whether you reach the 15-point threshold for Limited Capability for Work, and whether you qualify for the Support Group (LCWRA). The Support Group pays around £145.90 a week and the Work-Related Activity Group around £95.55 a week. As a rough starting point, enter your main condition below to see the kind of figure a successful claim can reach. It is only an estimate - your real award depends on how the WCA scores your difficulties across the 17 activities.

For the official figures, see our free WCA points calculator and what ESA is and how much it pays.

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