PIP Assessment Toolkit

Get your PIP assessment out of your head and into words.

Your PIP assessment is coming up, and you know there are things you need to explain.

• The help you rely on.
• The things you avoid.
• The pain or exhaustion afterwards.
• The activities that take much longer.
• The reminders or prompting you need.
• The difference between a better day and a difficult one.
• The examples you know are important, but suddenly cannot remember when someone asks.

That is the information your assessor needs to understand clearly.

The PIP Assessment Toolkit helps you gather it, organise it and prepare what you want to explain, so you are not trying to remember everything under pressure.

Here is what you’ll find in the PIP Assessment Toolkit:

PIP Assessment Guide: A plain-English guide to what happens before, during and after your assessment, including the different appointment types, your rights and how to prepare.

PIP Assessment Appointment Checklist: Sort your appointment details, recording, reasonable adjustments, companion, travel and anything you need to ask your assessment provider.

Activity Prompt Sheet: Work through the PIP activities that affect you, with helpful prompts and space to write down real examples from your own life.

STAR Snapshot: A one-page reminder to help you explain whether you can do an activity safely, in a reasonable time, well enough and as often as you need to.

Night Before Checklist: A calm final checklist covering what to have ready and what to remember for phone, video or face-to-face assessments.

This is for you if...

• You have a PIP assessment coming up and feel anxious or overwhelmed.
• You know your condition affects you, but struggle to explain the full picture.
• You worry that you will go blank or forget something important.
• You say things like “I can do that” and forget to explain the help, pain, time or recovery involved.
• Your condition changes from day to day.
• You want practical, plain-English support without spending loads.

What this toolkit helps you do

By the time your assessment arrives, you will have a clearer picture of:

• What difficulties you need to explain
• Which real examples you want to include
• What help, prompting, supervision or aids you rely on
• How often your difficulties affect you
• What happens during and after activities
• What you need to have ready for your appointment
• What you want your companion to help with

Left it a little late?

You can still use it.

The toolkit includes simple preparation routes depending on whether your assessment is:

• More than seven days away
• Within the next two to seven days
• Tomorrow

You do not need to complete every page. Start with the activities that affect you and focus on the information you most need to explain.

Your PIP assessment is not a memory test.

Give yourself something clear to follow and keep beside you on the day.

Pip x

FYI: This is a digital, print-ready toolkit for PIP assessments in England and Wales. It provides guidance and preparation support and does not constitute legal advice. It cannot guarantee the outcome of a PIP claim.