After you’ve applied for ESA, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will usually send you a form called the ‘capability for work questionnaire’. It’s also called the ESA50.
You’ll usually get the form about 2 or 3 months after you apply for ESA.
The form helps the DWP decide if you have difficulty working because you’re sick or disabled. This is called having ‘limited capability for work’ (LCW). You'll keep getting ESA if they decide you have LCW.
You must send the form back by the date on the letter that comes with the form - if you don’t, your ESA might stop. You’ll have 4 weeks from when the DWP sent the form. Allow time for the form to be posted.
Give yourself plenty of time to fill in the form and take breaks when you need to. This will help you include everything the DWP need to know.
Send the form as soon as you can. There’s space on the form to explain why you’re sending it back late. Your ESA might not stop if there’s a good reason you couldn’t send the form earlier - for example if you were in hospital or a close family member died.
If the DWP have already written to say they’ve stopped your ESA, you’ll also need to challenge their decision. You should do this within 1 month after the date at the top of the letter. Find out how to challenge the DWP’s decision.
The DWP might have decided you can keep getting ESA without being assessed. If this happens, they’ll write to say you’re ‘automatically treated as having limited capability for work’.
You might automatically have LCW if you:
If you’re terminally ill but your doctor expects you to live more than a year, you should talk to an adviser.
If you get Universal Credit and already have LCW for Universal Credit, you’ll automatically have LCW for ESA as well.
If the DWP decide you automatically have LCW, you won’t have to go to a medical assessment. Instead, check the letter is right and what to do next.
You might find it hard to describe a normal day if your symptoms change or are worse on some days than others.
The DWP want to know what you can do most days. Think about:
Try to keep a diary before you send the form, so it’s easier to see what you usually do. Keep the diary for 1 or 2 weeks if you have time, but don’t delay sending the form. You can send more information afterwards if you need to.
Before you start the diary, check the form to find out what activities and situations it asks about. Make a list of the ones you find difficult - for example if it’s hard to carry things or talk to people you don’t know. Use the list when you fill in the diary - this will make it easier to answer the questions on the form.
Take your time answering each question, and have breaks when you need to.
It’s easier to decide what to write if you know how the DWP assess the form. This will help you give the DWP all the information they need.
You can ask someone to help you fill in the form - for example, you could:
The DWP use the form to help them decide if you:
The DWP use 2 sets of activities - one set to decide if you have LCW, and the other set to decide if you need to do work-related activity. Each activity is divided into specific tasks called ‘descriptors’.
The DWP check how many of the tasks apply to you.
When the DWP check the tasks for LCW, they give points for each task that applies to you. This means your answers can help you get ESA even if you only score some of the points. If you get 15 points or more, the DWP will decide you have LCW.
If any of the tasks for work-related activity apply to you as well, the DWP will decide you also have ‘limited capability for work-related activity’ (LCWRA).
When you answer each question on the form, check which tasks the question covers and explain how they apply to you. You can use our advice for each question to find out which tasks are covered and how to explain if they apply to you.
If you don’t understand one of the questions on the form, you can ask your nearest Citizens Advice to help you work out what it means.