The Short Answer
Osteoarthritis scores PIP points mainly through the moving around distance bands. More than 50 metres scores 4 points, 20 to 50 metres scores 8 or 10, and below 20 metres scores 12 — which is the enhanced mobility rate on one descriptor. Daily living points come from the aid and assistance descriptors in dressing, washing, toilet needs and cooking. The calculator above scores the six activities involved.
How Osteoarthritis Scores PIP Points
Six activities carry most osteoarthritis claims, and one of them can reach an enhanced rate alone. Moving around scores 12 points at 20 metres or less, which is the enhanced mobility rate of £80.00 a week on a single descriptor. The table sets out what each activity assesses, the descriptors that turn on restricted joint movement and pain, and what those descriptors are worth.
| Activity | What it assesses | Descriptors typically engaged | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobility 2 — Moving around | standing and then moving, judged without severe discomfort such as pain or fatigue | b, c, d, e, f | 4–12 |
| Daily living 6 — Dressing and undressing | dressing and undressing, which may involve stretching, reaching, bending and gripping | b, d, e | 2–4 |
| Daily living 4 — Washing and bathing | washing and bathing, including getting in and out of an unadapted bath or shower | b, d, e, f | 2–4 |
| Daily living 5 — Managing toilet needs or incontinence | getting on and off an unadapted toilet and cleaning afterwards | b, d | 2–4 |
| Daily living 1 — Preparing food | preparing and cooking a simple meal, including activities at or above waist height | b, c, e | 2–4 |
| Daily living 3 — Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition | managing medication and therapy at home, which includes physiotherapy | b, c, d | 1–4 |
Last checked: 7 August 2026
Where this mapping comes from
Descriptor letters and point values are reproduced from Schedule 1 of the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013. The activities listed are the ones whose published assessment guidance names the functions this condition is reported to affect. No activity is listed on any other basis.
Activities are numbered as Schedule 1 numbers them, within each component: daily living 1 to 10 and mobility 1 to 2.
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 12: “This activity considers a claimant's physical ability to move around without severe discomfort, such as breathlessness, pain or fatigue.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 6: “Dressing and undressing may involve stretching, reaching, bending, gripping and other such movements.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 4: “Consideration should be given to the claimant's functional restrictions to see if they: could reasonably use an aid such as a grab rail to get in or out of an unadapted bath or shower (4B) or whether they require assistance (4E) to get in and out of an unadapted bath or shower.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 5: “This activity considers a claimant's ability to get on and off the toilet, to manage evacuation of the bladder and/or bowel and to clean afterwards.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 1: “If an individual cannot cook at all because they have never needed to learn, consider their ability to carry out activities at or above waist height and their cognitive ability to use a stove or microwave if shown how.”
- DWP PIP Assessment Guide, activity 3: “Examples of therapy include physiotherapy, home dialysis and special diets where both attention to the nature and timing of food is integral in the management of the diet.”
The moving around row is the one to get right. It is the only activity in the assessment scored by measured distance, and the bands are fixed rather than judged. Everything below it is scored on the kind of help needed rather than on a number. The PIP points calculator scores all twelve activities.
Can You Get PIP for Osteoarthritis?
Yes, where osteoarthritis limits the assessed activities on more than half of the days over a 12-month period. GOV.UK states the frequency test as expecting difficulty "more than half of the days over a 12-month period", and the duration test as difficulties expected to last "at least 12 months from when they started". The joints involved do not change the test, but they do change which activities are engaged: hips and knees reach moving around and toilet needs, hands reach cooking and dressing, and shoulders reach washing and upper-body dressing.
Waiting for a joint replacement does not weaken a claim. The assessment describes the position now, and a limitation expected to continue for the next twelve months meets the duration test regardless of what surgery may later change.
What Rate Could Osteoarthritis Get?
The rate follows the points in each component separately. Mobility pays £30.30 a week at the standard rate and £80.00 at the enhanced rate. Daily living pays £76.70 and £114.60.
Last checked: 6 August 2026
The distance bands translate directly into money. Scoring 4 points on moving around alone pays nothing, because 4 is below the 8-point threshold. Scoring 8 pays £30.30 a week. Scoring 12 pays £80.00, which is £199.20 more every 4 weeks than the standard rate.
The Moving Around Distances and How They Are Measured
Moving around scores in fixed distance bands, and knowing the boundaries changes what is worth recording. More than 200 metres scores nothing. More than 50 but no more than 200 metres scores 4 points. More than 20 but no more than 50 metres scores 8 points unaided or 10 points using an aid. More than 1 but no more than 20 metres scores 12 points, as does being unable to stand or move more than 1 metre.
The 20-metre boundary is where the mobility component changes rate, so it is the measurement worth making carefully. Twenty metres is roughly the length of two double-decker buses, or five parked cars. Pacing a known route at home and noting where you stop gives a figure an assessor can work with, and one you can repeat consistently.
The surface and the manner of moving are both defined. The guide states that the activity "should be judged in relation to a type of surface normally expected out of doors, such as pavements on the flat" and includes kerbs. It also states that a claimant who "stands and then transfers into a wheelchair" is not standing and moving that distance, and that individuals who require a wheelchair to move a distance should not be considered able to stand and move it.
Reliability applies to the measurement itself. The guide directs that "the reliability criteria should be applied when assessing what distances the claimant can achieve", which means the distance that can be managed repeatedly, at an acceptable standard and in a reasonable time. A single 200-metre walk followed by two days of recovery is not a 200-metre capability for scoring purposes.
Evidence That Supports an Osteoarthritis Claim
A measured, repeated walking distance is the single most useful piece of evidence. It answers the only activity in the assessment that is scored by number. Moving around is the only activity in the assessment scored by measured distance, with bands at 20, 50 and 200 metres.
- A GP record or orthopaedic clinic letter naming the joints affected and the stage of the disease
- X-ray or MRI reports referenced in a clinic letter
- A repeat prescription list covering analgesia and anti-inflammatories
- A record of joint injections, or a place on a joint replacement waiting list
- A physiotherapy referral or discharge letter, with the exercise regime and its weekly hours
- A note of the distance you can walk before stopping, measured against a known route and repeated on several days
Send what you already have rather than waiting for a new report. Evidence describing what you can do on an ordinary day answers the descriptors; the assessment weighs it against the reliability criteria.
Work Out the Full Picture
The tool above is pre-filtered; the assessment is not. All 12 activities are scored — 10 for daily living and 2 for mobility, set out in Schedule 1 of the PIP Regulations 2013 — and points from the two components never combine.
Osteoarthritis in several joints usually reaches more than the six activities above. Two tools finish the picture:
- Score every activity in the PIP points calculator, which uses the same verbatim descriptors.
- Compare the pre-filtered tools on the all condition calculators page.
Where an award is already in place and was backdated, the work out your pip back pay tool prices the arrears.
Related guidance: check pip for osteoarthritis.