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1. What is adult disability payment

Adult disability payment (ADP) is a benefit for people with a disability. It is replacing personal independence payment (PIP) for people of working age in Scotland. For details about PIP, see the 2021/22 edition of this Handbook.

If you are already on PIP, you will be transferred to ADP by the end of 2025.

Note: if you get disability living allowance, you will not transfer to ADP but to a new Scottish adult disability living allowance.

Children who have a disability can claim child disability payment in Scotland.

ADP is not means tested, so it is not reduced because of your student support or other income. It comprises two components: for daily living and mobility. Each component has two rates: a standard rate and an enhanced rate.

2. Who is eligible

You qualify for adult disability payment (ADP) if you meet all the following conditions.1

  • You are aged 16 or over and, usually, under pension age.
  • You satisfy certain rules on residence and presence in the UK and are not a ’person subject to immigration control’. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for details.
  • You satisfy the disability conditions for the daily living component and/or the mobility component.
  • You have satisfied the disability conditions for the last 13 weeks (unless you are terminally ill) and are likely to continue to do so for the next 39 weeks.
  • You are not entitled to child disability payment, personal independence payment, disability living allowance, pension age disability payment, Scottish adult disability living allowance, attendance allowance or armed forces independence payment.

Your ability to undertake various activities is assessed, taking into account whether you can carry out the activity safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and within a reasonable time. Depending on the type and level of help you need, you score points in different activities. If you score eight points, you get the standard rate of a component; if you score 12 points, you get the enhanced rate. For example, if you cannot dress or undress yourself, you score eight points.

See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for more information about the activities and the points awarded.

Reference
References
  • 1

    s31 and Sch 5 SS(S)A 2018; regs 3 and 4 DAWAP(S) Regs

Daily living component

To get the standard rate of the daily living component, your ability to undertake certain specified day-to-day activities must be limited by your health or disability. To get the enhanced rate, your ability to undertake the activities must be severely limited.

You are assessed on your ability to carry out the following activities:

  • preparing food. If you cannot prepare and cook a simple meal yourself, you can score points;
  • taking nutrition;
  • managing therapy or monitoring your health condition;
  • washing and bathing;
  • managing toilet needs or incontinence;
  • dressing and undressing;
  • communicating verbally. If you need to use an aid to help you speak or hear, you can score two points; if you need a British Sign Language interpreter to help you understand or express information, you can score four to eight points, depending on the type of help you need;
  • reading and understanding signs, symbols and words. If you need help to read, or need to use an appliance or aid (other than glasses or contact lenses), you can score points;
  • engaging socially with other people in-person;
  • making budgeting decisions. You can score points if your disability means you need help with budgeting.

Mobility component

You get the standard rate of the mobility component if your ability to undertake certain mobility activities is limited by your health or disability. If your ability to undertake the activities is severely limited, you get the enhanced rate.

You are assessed on your ability to plan and follow journeys and to move around. You can score points if you need help to follow an unfamiliar or familiar route, including if you can only do so with the help of a guide dog or orientation aid.

Students

If you are a student (part-time or full-time), you can get ADP if you meet the qualifying conditions. Starting to study should not affect your award, provided you still have daily living and/or mobility needs.

4. Claiming child benefit

Child benefit is administered by HMRC. You can claim online at gov.uk/child-benefit/how-to-claim, or you can claim on Form CH2, which you can get from the Child Benefit Office on 0300 200 3100 or gov.uk/government/publications/child-benefit-claim-form-ch2. The form can be completed online but must be printed, signed and sent by post.

You should make a claim within three months of becoming eligible. This is because your claim can usually only be backdated for up to three months. You do not have to show any reasons why your claim was late.

Getting paid

Child benefit is usually paid directly into your bank (or similar) account. Which account it goes into is up to you. If you do not want your benefit to go into an account that is overdrawn, give HMRC details of an alternative account if you have access to, or can open, one.

5. Challenging a decision

If you think a decision about your child benefit is wrong, you can ask HMRC to look at it again. This process is known as a ‘mandatory reconsideration’. Provided you ask within the time limit (usually one month), HMRC notifies you of the decision in a ‘mandatory reconsideration notice’. If you are still not happy when you get this notice, you can appeal to the independent First-tier Tribunal. If it was not possible to ask HMRC to reconsider the decision within a month, you can ask for a late revision (within 13 months), explaining why it is late. You can also ask HMRC to look at a decision again at any time if certain grounds are met – eg, if there has been an official error.

Basic facts

  • Employment and support allowance (ESA) is for people who are assessed as having limited capability for work because of their health or disability.
  • There is an income-related and a contributory ESA.
  • Part-time students who have limited capability for work and full-time students who get disability living allowance, personal independence payment or adult disability payment are eligible for income-related ESA.
  • Part-time and full-time students can get contributory ESA if they have paid sufficient national insurance contributions.

1. What is employment and support allowance

Employment and support allowance (ESA) is for people who have limited capability for work because of illness or disability.1

There is a contributory and an income-related ESA.

Contributory ESA is for people who have paid national insurance (NI) contributions (the DWP may refer to this as ’new-style’ ESA). It can also be claimed in order to get NI credits for limited capability for work.

Income-related ESA is means tested and is for people whose income and capital are low enough. It is possible to receive one or both types of ESA.

Note: you cannot make a new claim for income-related ESA as it is in the process of being replaced by universal credit (UC). However, some people can add an award of income-related ESA to ‘old’ awards of contributory ESA (see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for more details). If you already get income-related ESA, the government plans to notify you to transfer to UC by September 2025.

Reference
References
  • 1

    Reg 1 ESA Regs

2. Who is eligible

As new claims cannot be made for income-related employment and support allowance (ESA), most students getting income-related ESA will be those who were already on this before starting the course, and who are eligible for income-related ESA as a student. If you cannot claim income-related ESA, you may be able to get universal credit instead (see Chapter 9).

To qualify for ESA, you must meet all the basic conditions.1

  • You have limited capability for work (see here).
  • You are aged 16 or over and under pension age.
  • You are in Great Britain (although some absences are allowed – see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for more details).
  • You satisfy the rules for contributory ESA (see below) or income-related ESA (see below).
  • You are not working, although some ‘permitted work’ is allowed. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for more details.

Reference
References
  • 1

    s1 WRA 2007

Contributory employment and support allowance

Contributory ESA is not means tested. To qualify, you must meet the basic conditions above and have paid sufficient national insurance (NI) contributions.1 See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for details on this. You can also claim it in order to get NI credits for limited capability for work. There are no special rules for students, so you can claim contributory ESA whether you study full time or part time, including if you are taking time out from your course because of ill health (see here).

Reference
References
  • 1

    s1 WRA 2007

Income-related employment and support allowance

Income-related ESA is means tested. You are eligible if you are a part-time student and have limited capability for work (see here). If you are a full-time student, you are only eligible if you get disability living allowance (DLA), child disability payment (CDP), or personal independence payment (PIP)/adult disability payment (ADP). The same rules apply if you are taking time out from your course because of ill health (see here).

To qualify for income-related ESA while studying, you must satisfy the basic conditions (see here) and all the following conditions.1

  • You are a full-time student (see here) who is entitled to DLA/CDP (either component, paid at any rate) or PIP/ADP (either component, paid at any rate - see here), or you are a part-time student.2
  • Your income is less than the set amount the law says you need to live on (known as your ‘applicable amount’ – see here).
  • You have no more than £16,000 capital.
  • Your partner (if you have one) is not working 24 hours or more a week.
  • You are in Great Britain, satisfy the ‘habitual residence’ and the ‘right to reside’ tests, and are not a ‘person subject to immigration control’. These terms are explained in CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook. Further advice is available from UKCISA (see Appendix 2).

Reference

Full-time student

You count as a full-time student if you are undertaking a full-time course of study at an educational establishment. There are two definitions of ‘full time’ that apply: the first covers mostly courses of advanced education; the second covers most courses of non-advanced education.3

  • Your course is full time if it is classed as full time by the institution. If the institution describes the course as full time, you need convincing evidence to persuade the DWP otherwise, bearing in mind that what matters is the course itself rather than the hours you attend. This definition covers all courses of advanced education and any courses of non-advanced education not funded in whole or in part by the Scottish government at a further education (FE) college.
  • Your course is full time if it involves more than 16 hours a week classroom or workshop learning under the direct guidance of teaching staff, or 16 hours or less if your hours are made up of more than 21 hours a week of structured study hours. What matters is the number of hours specified in a document signed by the college. This is often called a ‘learning agreement’, but your college may refer to it by some other name. This definition applies if you are at an FE college, not undertaking a higher education course, and your course is fully or partly funded by the Scottish government. Courses funded by the Scottish government include school qualifications like National Qualifications from Access level to Advanced Higher, Scottish Vocational Qualifications and National Certificates.

A different definition applies if you are under 20 and a qualifying young person. Few people under 20 are on income-related ESA. If it is relevant, see the 19th edition of this Handbook.

Reference
References
  • 1

    Sch 1 para 6 WRA 2007

  • 2

    Reg 18 ESA Regs

  • 3

    Regs 14-16 ESA Regs

3. Limited capability for work

One of the basic rules of entitlement to employment and support allowance (ESA) is that you must be assessed as having ‘limited capability for work’. This means that your mental or physical condition makes it unreasonable to require you to work. You are normally assessed at a medical, known as the ‘work capability assessment’. This also assesses whether you have ‘limited capability for work-related activity’. If you are assessed as having both limited capability for work and limited capability for work-related activity, you are in the ‘support group’ and your ESA includes an amount called a ‘support component’.

If you are assessed as only having limited capability for work, you are in the ‘work-related activity group’. You are expected to attend work-focused interviews and may be required to undertake work-related activity. If you do not do so, your benefit may be reduced. If your claim began before 3 April 2017, your ESA includes a ‘work-related activity component’. If it began on or after this date, it does not.

If you are assessed as not having limited capability for work, you are not entitled to ESA. However, you can challenge this decision if you disagree with it (see here).

Most full-time students who get disability living allowance (DLA), child disability payment (CDP), personal independence payment (PIP) or adult disability payment (ADP) and who are claiming income-related ESA are treated as having limited capability for work and do not have to satisfy this part of the test.1 However, you must still satisfy the test if:

  • you are a qualifying young person under 20; or
  • you are claiming contributory ESA.

All students, unless they are in the support group, must take part in work-focused interviews and may have to undertake work-related activity as a condition of getting full benefit.2

If you are required to undertake full-time study as part of your work-related activity, you can continue to get ESA, whether or not you get DLA, CDP, PIP or ADP.3

Starting to study may prompt the DWP to call you for a reassessment, although this should not happen routinely. At the next assessment, your ability to perform the set activities is considered in the context of what you can do in a typical day, including your college or university routines. For example, you may be asked questions about your ability to get around campus, your ability to get to and from lectures, how long you can sit comfortably to study, or your ability to hold a pen to take notes or write essays.

The questions you are asked depend on which of the set activities (such as standing and sitting, manual dexterity and understanding communication) are relevant to your condition.

See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for advice on medical examinations and what to do if you do not pass the assessment.

Example

Rachel is 29 and getting contributory ESA that includes a support component. She starts a full-time course of study in August 2025. She continues to be eligible for contributory ESA, but she is called for a medical reassessment. Her condition is still the same; she passes the assessment and her contributory ESA continues.

Reference
References
  • 1

    Reg 33(2) ESA Regs

  • 2

    Regs 54 and 63(1) ESA Regs

  • 3

    Reg 14(2A) ESA Regs

4. Amount of benefit

Employment and support allowance (ESA) is usually payable after seven ‘waiting days’. You are paid a limited amount of ESA during an initial ‘assessment phase’. In most cases, this lasts 13 weeks. After this, you are then paid more in the ‘main phase’ that follows.

ESA is worked out as follows.

In the assessment phase, you get a basic allowance of contributory ESA. The amount of income-related ESA you get depends on your needs (your ‘applicable amount’) and how much income you have.

In the main phase, if you are in the support group, you get a support component of £48.50 a week. If you are in the work-related activity group and you claimed before 3 April 2017, you get a work-related activity component of £36.55 a week. If you claimed on or after 3 April 2017, no work-related activity component can be added. For income-related ESA, the component is added to your applicable amount and your income is then subtracted from your applicable amount. For contributory ESA, it is added to the basic allowance.

Contributory employment and support allowance

Weekly rate from April 20251
Assessment phase, basic allowance (under 25)£72.90
Assessment phase, basic allowance (25 or over)£92.05
Main phase, basic allowance (under 25)£92.05
Main phase, basic allowance (25 or over)£92.05
Main phase, support component£48.50
Main phase, work-related activity component (claims before 3 April 2017 only)£36.55

Contributory ESA is paid for up to a year if you are in the work-related activity group or indefinitely if you are in the support group.

Reference
References
  • 1

    s2 WRA 2007; reg 67(2) and (3) ESA Regs

Income-related employment and support allowance

The amount of income-related ESA you get depends on your circumstances and the circumstances of your partner.1 The amount also depends on your income and capital. Go through the following steps to work out the amount of ESA to which you are entitled.

Reference

Step 1: capital

If your capital is over £16,000, you cannot get income-related ESA (see here). Some kinds of capital are ignored. For details, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook.

Step 2: work out your applicable amount

This is an amount for basic weekly needs. It is made up of:2

  • personal allowances (see here);
  • premiums (see here);
  • a support component or, for claims before 3 April 2017, a work-related activity component (see here);
  • housing costs (see here).

Reference

Step 3: work out your weekly income

Chapter 13 explains how your loan, grant or other income is taken into account for ESA and how to work out your weekly income.

Step 4: deduct weekly income from applicable amount

If your income is less than your applicable amount, your ESA equals the difference between the two.

If your income is the same as or more than your applicable amount, you cannot get ESA.

Income-related ESA tops up contributory ESA if you are entitled to both and the income-related amount is higher.

Applicable amount

Your applicable amount is worked out by adding together your personal allowances, premiums, the component that applies to you in the main phase and any eligible housing costs. It is usually possible to find out what the new rates will be from the beginning of December. Check the DWP website at gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions for a press release on social security uprating. The rates below are from April 2025.

Personal allowance

Your personal allowance is paid at the single, lone parent or couple rate depending on your situation and age.

Weekly rate from April 2025
Single
Under 25£92.05
25 or over£92.05
Lone parent
18 or over£92.05
Couple
One under 18, one 18 or over (higher rate)£144.65
One under 18, one 18–24 (not eligible for higher rate)£92.05
One under 18, one 25 or over (not eligible for higher rate)£92.05
Both 18 or over£144.65

Premiums

Qualifying for premiums depends on your circumstances. You can qualify for the following.

  • Pensioner premium. You or your partner must have reached pension age (see here). If you are in a couple and one of you is over pension age and one of you is under pension age, you get £201.95 if not entitled to either component, £165.40 if entitled to the work-related activity component, or £153.45 if entitled to the support component.
  • Carer premium of £46.40. You get a carer premium if you are entitled to carer support payment (CSP). If you are entitled to CSP but not paid it because it overlaps with another benefit (eg, contributory ESA), you still qualify for a carer premium. You get two carer premiums if both you and your partner qualify.
  • Enhanced disability premium. You qualify for this if you or your partner get the highest rate of the disability living allowance (DLA)/Scottish adult disability living allowance (SADLA) care component, the enhanced rate of the daily living component of personal independence payment (PIP)/adult disability payment (ADP), or if you get the support component of ESA. You get £21.20, or £30.25 if you are a couple.
  • Severe disability premium. This is for severely disabled people who live alone or who can be treated as living alone. You qualify if you get the middle or highest rate of the DLA/SADLA care component or the daily living component of PIP/ADP paid at either rate and no one gets carer’s allowance, carer support payment or the carer element of UC for looking after you. You do not get the premium if you live with another person aged 18 or over (eg, a friend or parent), unless they are separately liable for rent, you only share a bathroom or hallway, or some other circumstances apply. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook for details. If you have a partner, you do not qualify unless your partner also qualifies in their own right or is certified as severely sight impaired or blind. If you both qualify, you get two premiums. The rate of the premium is £82.90.

Components

In the main phase (see here), you receive either the support component or, if your claim began before 3 April 2017, the work-related activity component (see here). The work-related activity component is £36.55. The support component is £48.50.

Housing costs

ESA can include help with certain service charges and some other housing payments, after a waiting period. Usually, help only starts once you have been getting ESA for 39 weeks, although there are some exceptions to this.

If you own your own home, the DWP may offer you a loan to help with the cost of your mortgage interest payments.

Normally, you have to live in the home you own to get a loan, but there are exceptions for full-time students (and some others). You can still get a loan for mortgage interest if you have moved elsewhere to study but are not paying rent or a mortgage at the term-time address. If you pay for both places, you can get a loan for both if you are a couple and it is unavoidable that you live in two separate homes. Otherwise, you can get a loan if you are away from your home temporarily and have not let it out and are not likely to be away for more than 52 weeks.3 Note: these loans are not part of your ESA.

If you have rent to pay, you must usually claim universal credit (or sometimes housing benefit) for help (see Chapters 9 or 6). For full details, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits Handbook.

Reference
References
  • 1

    s4 WRA 2007; reg 67(1) and (3) ESA Regs

  • 2

    Reg 67 and Sch 4 ESA Regs

  • 3

    Sch 3 para 4 LMI Regs