What is the Work Capability Assessment?

If you are claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) – or in some areas, Universal Credit (UC) – as a result of mental health, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has to check that you are not well enough to work and they call this having ‘limited capability for work’. If you have limited capability for work, you can get ESA or UC with a limited capability for work element. 

In this section we refer to ESA, but the same rules apply to UC with a limited capability for work element.

The test the DWP uses to decide if you have limited capability for work is called the Work Capability Assessment (WCA).

Sometimes the DWP do not have to check if you have limited capability for work, if you are in hospital, for example.

They will usually send you a form with questions about your health – this is the ESA50 or UC50 form, or the Capability for Work questionnaire. In this section we will refer to this as ‘the health questionnaire’. You can find out more information about this form in the How do I fill in the health questionnaire section.

When you have completed the form, most people will have to go to a medical assessment.