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For your Work Capability Assessment

Walk into your Work Capability Assessment knowing what they'll ask

Your WCA50 gets you to the assessment. The assessment itself is a conversation with a health professional, and what they write down goes to the DWP decision maker. This builds your personalised prep: the questions, model spoken answers, the traps and a printable cheat card.

Try it free

See your first two assessment questions free

Tell us about you, pick one WCA activity and we will build your first practice card free: the question the health professional is likely to ask you, the probing follow-up they use to dig deeper, model spoken answers in your voice, a tip and a trap to avoid. The full prep covers everything below.

The Work Capability Assessment is the same either way. This sets whether your prep uses ESA or Universal Credit terms.
This can be one of the most important parts of a claim (called "substantial risk"). A substantial risk to your health if you were found fit for work can mean you are treated as having limited capability for work even with a low score, and a substantial risk from work-related activity can place you in the Support Group or LCWRA group. Include things like mental health crises, self-harm or suicidal thoughts, hospital admissions or your condition getting much worse under pressure. Only share what you are comfortable with.
Free · no card details · we email you a copy
See a full example of the finished prep →
What you get

Your complete, personalised WCA prep

Built from what you tell us, in about two minutes. Sixteen sections, practice for all 17 WCA activities with a chain of probing follow-ups wherever your conditions bite, a practice mode that checks your answers as you rehearse and a one-page cheat card to take in with you. If you built your report with us, the spoken answers are written to agree with your WCA50.

📋 Who assesses youWhat to expect from the health professional, for your format: phone, video or face to face, and whether it is recorded.
⭐ The golden ruleMost of the time, not your best day: why "never" and "always" quietly work against you, and why saying how often matters.
❓ Your typical dayThe question the health professional uses to build their picture of you, with a model answer in your voice.
🕑 The first ten minutesYour conditions, treatment, medication and side effects, your work history and "has anything changed since your WCA50?", with model answers.
📌 Must-mention listThe specific difficulties you must not forget to raise, for your conditions.
⚠️ Traps to avoid"I manage", "I can never", a bare distance and how to talk about work without talking yourself out of your claim.
👀 Informal observationsWhat the health professional notices from the moment it starts, and how it is checked against your WCA50.
💬 Questions that sound like small talkDriving, pets, TV, shopping, your phone, who filled in the form: why they are asked and how to answer honestly without underselling yourself.
🛡️ Mental health, safety and riskThe questions about your mood, about self-harm and about what work would do to your health, and how to answer them plainly.
🩺 The physical examinationIf yours is face to face: what they ask you to do, and how to handle it honestly.
📝 One-page cheat cardPrintable: your power words, your key points per topic, your numbers and what never to say.
✅ On-the-day checklistEverything to re-read, bring and remember.
🎤 Practice, all 17 activitiesFor every WCA activity: what the health professional is really deciding, the question they usually open with, a model spoken answer in your voice, the follow-up chain they use to pin down the detail and the answer that would undersell you.
🎯 Practice modeRehearse out loud: the page reads each question to you, you answer and it checks whether you said how often, what help, how safely and what goes wrong.
📝 Your closing statementThe 30-second summary for "is there anything else?", plus the three consistency checks the health professional is most likely to run on you.
📨 After your assessmentWhat happens next, how to get a copy of the report and your rights if the decision is wrong.
📅 Calendar remindersGive us your date and download two reminders: the evening before, and the morning of.
📧 Email + printable PDFYour full prep on screen, emailed to you and formatted to print.
WCA Prep
£39.99

One-off payment · ready in about two minutes · no subscription · for ESA and Universal Credit, first assessments and reassessments

FAQ

Common questions

Is this the same as Done For You?

No. Done For You writes your answers for the WCA50 form and includes a short assessment cheat sheet and Q&A. WCA Prep coaches the conversation itself: what you say at the assessment, in sixteen sections, with practice for all 17 activities, a practice mode that checks your answers and your own printable cheat card.

Is it for ESA or Universal Credit?

Both. It is the same Work Capability Assessment for ESA and Universal Credit, and if you claim both Universal Credit and New Style ESA you only have one assessment. Tell us which benefit you claim and your prep uses the right terms.

Which assessment formats does it cover?

All of them: phone, video and face to face, including home visits. Tick which you have (or all three if you are not sure) and your prep emphasises the right things: how you come across on the phone, what shows on camera or the physical examination and informal observations face to face.

Will my assessment be recorded?

Phone and face to face assessments, including home visits, are audio recorded as standard unless you opt out, which you can do before or during the assessment. Video assessments are not currently recorded. You can ask for a copy of the recording afterwards. To opt out, contact your assessment provider using the details in your invitation letter.

Can someone come with me?

Yes. You can have someone with you, such as a friend or support worker. If it is by phone or video, you can ask the assessor to call them if they are not with you when it starts. They can add to what you say, but the health professional will want to hear your answers from you.

How personalised is it really?

Everything is generated from what you enter: your conditions, how they affect you, your medication, aids, bad days, falls, whether you work, who you live with, what pressure does to your health and your assessment format. The practice answers are written in the first person, in your situation, not generic templates.

When should I get it?

As soon as your assessment is booked, so you have time to practise. If you give us your assessment date, your prep opens with a simple plan for the days you have left. It is still useful the night before.

Will it match what I wrote on my WCA50?

That is the point. If you built your report with us on this device, the prep offers to use it, and every spoken answer is written to agree with the difficulties, frequencies and aids in your form, activity by activity. If you filled in the form some other way, paste the key points into the optional box and the prep works from those. The health professional checks what you say against your WCA50, so nothing here ever contradicts it.

Does it work for reassessments?

Yes. A reassessment uses the same assessment, with one extra trap: the "has anything changed?" question. If you tell us it is a reassessment, your prep shows you how to answer that honestly without talking yourself out of your award. The decision can keep, raise, lower or end your current award, so it deserves the same preparation as a first assessment.

Does it tell me to exaggerate?

Never. Health professionals are trained to spot rehearsed or exaggerated answers, and inconsistency harms claims. This is honest preparation: describing your genuine difficulties accurately, without underselling them.

Can I get a refund?

As a digital product generated instantly to your specifications, it is non-refundable once generated, except where required by law. Your statutory rights are not affected. See our Terms.

Guidance only. This tool provides general preparation and is not legal advice or a promise of any outcome. Decisions are made by the DWP. Always describe your genuine difficulties honestly. ESAexpert is operated by a sole trader and is not affiliated with the DWP or any government body.