The Short Answer
Mobility activity 1 assesses planning and following the route of a journey. The assessment guide states it is designed for limitations deriving from mental health, cognitive and sensory impairments, with moving around covering the physical side. Descriptors run from 4 points for needing prompting to avoid overwhelming distress, to 12 points for being unable to follow a familiar route without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid.
| Activity | Mobility activity 1: Planning and following journeys |
|---|---|
| Component | Mobility, scored under regulation 6(3) |
| Descriptors | 6, lettered a to f |
| Points range | 0 to 12 |
| Reaches a threshold alone | Yes — the top descriptor alone reaches the 12-point enhanced rate |
The Planning and Following Journeys Descriptors
One descriptor is scored, the highest that applies on more than half of the days.
| Descriptor | Points |
|---|---|
| a. Can plan and follow the route of a journey unaided. | 0 |
| b. Needs prompting to be able to undertake any journey to avoid overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant. | 4 |
| c. Cannot plan the route of a journey. | 8 |
| d. Cannot follow the route of an unfamiliar journey without another person, assistance dog or orientation aid. | 10 |
| e. Cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant. | 10 |
| f. Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid. | 12 |
Last checked: 7 August 2026
Reproduced verbatim from Schedule 1 of the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013, as amended. The highest descriptor this activity can score is 12 points.
Three descriptors here reach or exceed the 8-point standard-rate threshold, and one reaches the 12-point enhanced rate alone. With only two activities in the mobility component, a single descriptor decides the rate far more often than it does on the daily living side.
What the Activity Separates
Three abilities, and the guide says to consider them separately. It lists "ability to plan the route of a journey in advance", "ability to leave the home and embark on a journey" and "ability to follow the intended route once they leave the home".
It then states the design intent: "This activity is designed for limitations on mobility deriving from mental health, cognitive and sensory impairments, whereas activity 12 is generally designed for limitations from physical problems."
Last checked: 7 August 2026
Cognitive impairment is defined for this purpose as including "orientation (understanding of where, when and who the person is), attention, concentration and memory". GOV.UK puts the same point in plainer terms: "You do not have to have a physical disability to get the mobility part. You might also be eligible if you have difficulty getting around because of a cognitive or mental health condition, like anxiety."
Planning and Distress Are Different Routes
Two descriptors score 8 or more without any distress being involved. Descriptor c, cannot plan the route of a journey, scores 8. Descriptors d and f, cannot follow an unfamiliar or familiar route without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid, score 10 and 12.
None of those requires psychological distress. They are cognitive and sensory descriptors, and a claim built on memory, orientation or sight belongs to them rather than to the distress descriptors.
The distress route runs separately: descriptor b at 4 points for needing prompting to undertake any journey to avoid overwhelming psychological distress, and descriptor e at 10 points for being unable to undertake any journey because it would cause that distress.
The Accompaniment Test
Preference is not enough. The guide is explicit: descriptors "11d or 11f only apply where a claimant could not reliably make their way along a route without an accompanying person, assistance dog or orientation aid. The presence of another person out of preference, is not sufficient."
The question is whether the journey would fail without them, not whether they usually come.
Where Falls and Seizures Belong
On the cause, not the consequence. The guide directs that "ordinarily the risk to a claimant's safety arising from a physical inability to move safely would be applicable under activity 12. However, where the fall arises as a result of a sensory or cognitive impairment (for example, seizures associated with loss of consciousness) the risk of the fall to a claimant's safety would be applicable under activity 11."
It adds that recovery counts: "consideration also needs to be given to any risks to an individual arising during the 'recovery' period (for example, any post ictal confusion)".
Conditions That Commonly Score Here
Mental health, cognitive and sensory conditions. Anxiety, PTSD and agoraphobia reach it through the distress descriptors. Autism, ADHD, learning disability and dementia reach it through planning and orientation. Epilepsy reaches it through the seizure rule above. Visual impairment and multiple sclerosis reach it through following a route.
Check Your Score
Planning and following journeys is one of two mobility activities, and its points add to those from moving around. Score both in the PIP points calculator, or read the full set on all 12 PIP descriptors.