The Short Answer
65% of PIP decisions cleared at a tribunal hearing were overturned in the claimant's favour. That figure covers initial decisions made between October 2020 and September 2025, published by the DWP. A further 20% of appeals lodged were lapsed, meaning the DWP changed its own decision before the hearing. Only 7% of initial decisions are appealed at all, so the high overturn rate applies to a small, self-selected group.
The Headline Figures
Every stage of the challenge process, with the period each figure covers. The two official series measure different things and should not be added together.
| Measure | Figure | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial decisions awarded PIP | 54% | Oct 2020 – Sep 2025 | DWP |
| Decisions with a reconsideration registered | 20% | Oct 2020 – Sep 2025 | DWP |
| Reconsiderations changing the award | 17% | Oct 2020 – Sep 2025 | DWP |
| Reconsiderations changing the award | 27% | Quarter ending Jan 2026 | DWP |
| Completed reconsiderations then appealed | 33% | Oct 2020 – Sep 2025 | DWP |
| Appeals lodged that were lapsed | 20% | Oct 2020 – Sep 2025 | DWP |
| Decisions cleared at a hearing that were overturned | 65% | Oct 2020 – Sep 2025 | DWP |
| Initial decisions appealed | 7% | Oct 2020 – Sep 2025 | DWP |
| Initial decisions overturned at a hearing | 3% | Oct 2020 – Sep 2025 | DWP |
Last checked: 7 August 2026
The DWP's figures come from its quarterly PIP official statistics; the base is 3.5 million initial decisions following a PIP assessment across the five-year window.
The Tribunal Series
The Ministry of Justice publishes the courts' own view of the same hearings. Its figures cover all social security and child support appeals rather than PIP alone, and PIP is the largest component of them.
| Measure | Figure | Period |
|---|---|---|
| SSCS disposals | 101,000 | 2025/26 |
| Disposals cleared at a hearing | 63% | 2025/26 |
| Hearings revising the decision in the claimant's favour | 59% | 2025/26 |
| The same measure a year earlier | 60% | 2024/25 |
| PIP share of SSCS receipts | 61% | Jan – Mar 2026 |
| Mean age of a case at disposal | 35 weeks | Jan – Mar 2026 |
Last checked: 7 August 2026
The two series differ because they count different populations: the DWP counts PIP decisions, the Ministry of Justice counts all social security appeals. Both point the same way.
What the Figures Do Not Say
They are population rates, not the probability that a particular appeal will succeed. Nothing in either series predicts an individual case, and no reputable reading of them can.
Three qualifications matter when interpreting the 65% figure:
- The population is self-selected. Only 7% of initial decisions are appealed. Claimants who appeal are disproportionately those with a case worth making, often with advice-sector support.
- Lapsed appeals sit outside it. Twenty per cent of appeals lodged never reach a hearing because the DWP changes the decision first. Those successes are not in the 65%.
- The base period is long. October 2020 to September 2025 includes years of changing practice. The DWP notes that numbers for later periods can rise as more appeals complete.
What the Pattern Suggests
Decisions change at every stage, and each stage has a different mechanism. The reconsideration stage changes 17% to 27% of decisions and is decided inside the DWP. The lapse stage changes 20% of lodged appeals, also inside the DWP but after independent scrutiny becomes likely. The hearing stage changes 65% of what remains, decided by a panel independent of government.
The most defensible reading is the simplest one: the further a case travels, the more likely it is to have merit, and independent scrutiny finds more of that merit than internal review does. What that does not license is any claim about how a specific case will end.
Where the Figures Come From
The DWP's quarterly PIP official statistics, and the Ministry of Justice's quarterly tribunal statistics. Both are National Statistics publications, updated on a quarterly cycle.
Figures on this page are checked against each new release. Where a figure here differs from a newer publication, the newer publication governs.
The Route Itself
The process behind these numbers, with its deadlines and forms, is on the challenging decisions explained page, and what happens at the hearing is on the tribunal page.