WCA Activity 7: Understanding Communication Explained

Activity 7 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 or Universal Credit. Its full title is "Understanding communication by verbal means, non-verbal means, or a combination". In plain terms, it asks a single question: can you understand a simple message, given to you in speech, in writing or by sign, when the barrier is a sensory impairment? You score points on this activity by showing that a sensory impairment - usually hearing or sight loss - stops you reliably understanding basic information.

This is a physical activity in the assessment, and it sits next to Activity 8 (navigation) as the pair of activities written specifically for people with sensory loss. It is worth understanding in detail, because it is easy to under-claim: people describe their hearing loss in medical terms and forget to explain what actually happens when a stranger tries to tell them something simple.

The exact Activity 7 descriptors and points

These are the verbatim descriptors and point values 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.

Two of the three scoring descriptors are worth the full 15 points - so meeting either descriptor (a) or (b) is enough on its own to reach the 15-point threshold for Limited Capability for Work. The lower descriptor (c), for "some difficulty", is worth 6 points, which combines with points from other activities.

What the descriptors mean in plain English

Descriptor (a) - cannot understand a simple message (15 points). This is the most severe level. The example written into the law is the location of a fire escape - a short, vital, safety-critical message. If a sensory impairment means you genuinely cannot take in a message that basic, in any form, you meet this descriptor. It applies most often to people who are profoundly deaf and do not lip-read or use written notes effectively, or who have very severe combined sensory loss.

Descriptor (b) - significant difficulty understanding a stranger (15 points). This is the descriptor most claimants actually meet. "Significant difficulty" with a "stranger" is the key. A stranger is someone who does not know you and cannot adapt to your needs - they do not slow down, face you, or know to write things down. If you regularly mishear, misunderstand or simply cannot follow a stranger giving you a simple message, this descriptor and its 15 points apply.

Descriptor (c) - some difficulty understanding a stranger (6 points). A milder level for people who can usually follow a simple message but have real, repeated difficulty - for example needing things repeated, struggling in any background noise, or frequently asking people to write things down. Six points here can be decisive when added to other activities.

It must be a sensory impairment

Every scoring descriptor in Activity 7 ends with "due to sensory impairment". This matters. Activity 7 is about hearing and sight - not about cognition, learning or mental health. If you cannot follow a message because of a learning disability, autism, brain injury or a mental health condition, that difficulty is scored elsewhere, usually under Activity 13 (initiating and sequencing actions) or the mental-function activities, not Activity 7.

So Activity 7 fits people whose ears or eyes are the barrier: severe or profound deafness, severe sight loss that stops you reading written or signed information, or deafblindness. If both your hearing and your sight are affected, describe the combined effect, because together they can leave you unable to understand a message in any form.

A worked example: how a real difficulty maps to points

Points only make sense when you see how an everyday difficulty turns into a descriptor. Here is a composite example built from the kind of facts an assessor weighs. The point values are exactly those written into Schedule 2.

Imagine someone with severe sensorineural hearing loss who wears two hearing aids. At home, with their partner facing them in a quiet room, they manage. But when a stranger speaks - a receptionist, a bus driver, a delivery courier - they catch perhaps one word in three. In any background noise they understand almost nothing. They cannot use a telephone for anything beyond a few rehearsed words, and they routinely have to ask people to write messages down.

• Descriptor (b): they have "significant difficulty understanding a simple message from a stranger due to sensory impairment". Even with aids fitted and working, a stranger's voice in real-world conditions is not reliably understood. That is 15 points, enough on its own to establish Limited Capability for Work.
• They would not normally also claim descriptor (a), because they can sometimes understand a written message - but if they could not read written notes either, descriptor (a) would apply instead. You take the single highest descriptor that fits.

Now picture a milder case: someone with moderate hearing loss who follows most strangers but needs frequent repetition and cannot cope in noisy places. That is "some difficulty" - descriptor (c), 6 points. On its own that is not enough, but added to points from, say, Activity 8 navigation or a mental-function activity it can carry the claim over the line.

The reliability test applied to Activity 7

The single most important rule across 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 understand one carefully delivered sentence on a good day in a silent room. They are asking whether you could follow simple messages day after day in a real workplace. Apply each limb of the test to communication:

• Reliably. If you understand a stranger some of the time but misunderstand them just as often, you are not understanding communication reliably. Mishearing a safety instruction is not a minor slip.
• Repeatedly. Lip-reading and straining to listen are exhausting. You might manage one conversation but be unable to keep it up across a working day. Listening fatigue is a real and recognised effect.
• Safely. The fire-escape example is in the law for a reason. If you could not take in an urgent safety message, doing the task "safely" is in doubt - which feeds directly into substantial-risk arguments.
• The majority of the time. If background noise, unfamiliar voices or poor lighting for lip-reading affect you most of the time, you are assessed as you are in those ordinary conditions, not in a quiet clinic with one person facing you.

Which conditions commonly score on Activity 7

• Severe and profound hearing loss and deafness - the central group for this activity.
• Severe tinnitus where the constant internal noise masks speech and makes understanding a stranger genuinely difficult.
• Meniere's disease and other conditions causing fluctuating or progressive hearing loss.
• Severe sight loss that prevents reading written messages or seeing sign language.
• Deafblindness and combined sensory loss, where neither hearing nor sight can compensate for the other.
• Auditory processing difficulties linked to a sensory impairment rather than a cognitive one.

Evidence to gather for Activity 7

Communication difficulty is hard to capture in a brief consultation, so good evidence makes a visible difference. Build it in layers:

• An audiogram and audiology report. The single most useful document for hearing loss - it shows the degree and pattern of loss in numbers an assessor cannot argue with.
• Letters from your ENT consultant, audiologist or sensory team. These can confirm diagnosis, severity and the communication support you need.
• Ophthalmology or low-vision reports if sight loss is part of the picture, plus any CVI (Certificate of Vision Impairment) registration.
• Your GP record, which often logs the history of your hearing or sight loss and the aids prescribed.
• Confirmation of communication support - that you use a BSL interpreter, lip-read, rely on written notes, or use Access to Work or relay services.
• A witness statement from someone who has watched you fail to follow a stranger or miss a public announcement.

Send copies, never originals, and keep a list of everything you submit.

Common mistakes on Activity 7

• Describing the diagnosis, not the difficulty. "Severe hearing loss" tells the assessor little. "I cannot follow a stranger at a counter and miss most of what is said in any background noise" tells them everything.
• Answering for your best listener. If you only manage because your partner adapts to you, say so - and explain that a stranger does not.
• Overstating what hearing aids do. Aids help, but they rarely restore normal understanding, especially in noise. Describe your understanding with aids fitted and working.
• Forgetting listening fatigue. Concentrating to lip-read or strain to hear all day is exhausting and feeds the "repeatedly" limb of the reliability test.
• Mixing up the activities. If your difficulty is cognitive rather than sensory, it belongs in a different activity - claiming it under 7 invites a nil score.

How Activity 7 combines towards 15 points - and the Support Group

You reach Limited Capability for Work (LCW) by scoring 15 points in total across the 17 activities, adding physical and mental descriptors together. Because descriptors (a) and (b) of Activity 7 are each worth 15 points, meeting either one clears the threshold on its own. If you only meet descriptor (c) for 6 points, you need a further 9 points from elsewhere - and for someone with sensory loss those points very often come from Activity 8 (navigation), which is the natural companion activity.

Activity 7 does not have its own matching Schedule 3 descriptor, so it does not place you in the Support Group (LCWRA on Universal Credit) by itself. There are still two routes to the higher group. First, the navigation descriptors in Activity 8 do appear in Schedule 3, so severe combined sensory loss can qualify there. Second, the substantial-risk rule can apply if being unable to understand safety messages or warnings would put you or others at serious risk in a work setting. The Support Group pays the higher rate of £145.90 a week, against £95.55 a week for the Work-Related Activity Group, and carries no work-related requirements.

The consultation and what to do if it goes wrong

Most assessments are now by telephone or as a paper-based review, though a face-to-face appointment is still possible. For a communication difficulty the phone can be the worst possible format, because it strips away lip-reading and every visual cue. You are entitled to ask for a format that suits your impairment, to have a BSL interpreter, and to bring a supporter. Answer for your typical day and your worst conditions - noisy, unfamiliar, strangers - not for a quiet one-to-one.

If the decision is wrong - a nil score when you clearly struggle, or the wrong group - you can challenge it. Ask the DWP for a copy of the assessment report and check it against what you said; mismatches are common and useful. The challenge runs in two stages: first Mandatory Reconsideration, normally within one month, setting out which descriptors you meet and why with any fresh evidence; then, if needed, an appeal to the independent First-tier Tribunal. Tribunals overturn a large share of WCA refusals, partly because a panel can take the time to understand a sensory impairment that a brief call cannot.

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. The WCA is under reform with changes from 2025 onwards - always check GOV.UK for the latest.

Frequently Asked Questions

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). 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 Work Capability Assessment 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.