Not everybody who applies for ESA has to complete a questionnaire. Some people with the most serious conditions should be identified just on the basis of a medical certificate and placed straight into the higher paying support group.
But most people will have to complete the 27 page ESA50 questionnaire. This asks you lots of questions about how any physical and/or mental health condition affects various everyday activities.
The questionnaire is primarily aimed at helping to decide whether you are eligible for the lower paying work-related activity group. A points system stands behind this questionnaire and if you don’t assess yourself as scoring enough points to pass the test it’s very unlikely that the examining doctor or nurse will do so
Confusing and misleading
 Some of the questions are confusing, some misleading and all require more information than simply ticking boxes if you are to give yourself the best possible chance of getting an award.
Even if you think you should be in the higher paying support group, which uses a different test, you also need to show that you pass this first test, so it’s vital that the form is completed in as much detail as possible.
Our highly detailed guides can make an enormous difference to how well you complete this task.
Our Guide to Understanding ESA explains how the whole system works, explains the points system for entry to the work-related activity group and the descriptors for the support group. It also explains how the exemptions and exceptional circumstances rules work.
Physical health
Our guide to limited capability for work on physical health grounds takes you box-by-box through every page of the questionnaire that relates to physical health. You can download sample pages from the Guide to Employment and Support Allowance claims on physical health grounds (Full guide, 65 pags A4).
Mental health
 Our guide to limited capability for work on mental health grounds takes you box-by-box through every page of the questionnaire that relates to mental health. You can download sample pages from the Guide to Employment and Support Allowance claims on mental health and learning difficulties grounds (Full guide 88 pages A4).
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