The Work Capability Assessment
The Work Capability Assessment, usually shortened to WCA, is how the DWP decides whether your illness or disability limits your ability to work, and if so, which group you belong in. It is not a medical examination in the ordinary sense: no one diagnoses you, and no one treats you. The assessor measures what you can do against a set of work-related activities, using the evidence in your questionnaire, any supporting evidence, and what you say at the appointment.
Step 1: the questionnaire
If you need an assessment, you receive a letter telling you to fill in the "Capability for work questionnaire" and send it to the Health Assessment Advisory Service. The address is on the form. There is a different questionnaire in Northern Ireland. The questionnaire asks about physical activities, such as moving around, standing and sitting, reaching, and picking things up, and about mental and cognitive activities, such as understanding communication, remembering instructions, coping with social situations, and behaving appropriately. Answer about your typical days, not your best days. For each activity, explain what happens when you try it, how long it takes, whether you need help or prompting, and what the consequences are afterwards. A short sentence such as "I cannot do this" helps far less than a concrete description: how far, how often, what stops you, and what happens next.
Step 2: the appointment
Assessments can be in person, by video call or on the phone. You are told which format yours will take. You can have someone else with you, such as a friend or support worker, and for a phone or video assessment you can ask the assessor to call that person if they are not with you when the assessment starts. The audio of your assessment is recorded; if you do not want it recorded, contact your health assessment provider using the details in your invitation letter. Bring any supporting evidence you have not already sent, and be ready to describe a normal day from waking to bedtime, because that account is often where the assessment is won or lost.
Step 3: the decision
Three outcomes are possible. You are found to have limited capability for work and placed in the work-related activity group. You are found to have limited capability for work-related activity and placed in the support group. Or you are found fit for work, which means no ESA award on that assessment. You stay on the assessment rate until the decision is made, even if that takes longer than the normal 13 weeks, and any money owed after 13 weeks is backdated. If you claim both Universal Credit and New Style ESA, you have only one Work Capability Assessment, and its result feeds both claims.
If you are found fit for work
A fit-for-work finding is not the end of the road, but the route depends on your history. In most cases you ask for a mandatory reconsideration within 1 month of the decision letter, and then appeal to a tribunal if the reconsideration does not change the outcome. For a first fit-for-work finding, the decision letter may say you can appeal directly without a mandatory reconsideration; always follow what your own letter says. While a challenge is under way, the position on payment depends on the type of decision, and the sanctions and appeals page sets that out. Get advice promptly: Citizens Advice and local welfare rights services help with WCA challenges every week, and they know which evidence tribunals find persuasive.
Reassessment
ESA awards are not always permanent. You may be reassessed, particularly if your condition is expected to change, and you must keep sending fit notes regularly if the DWP asks for them. A reassessment uses the same process: questionnaire, possible appointment, fresh decision. Keep copies of everything you send, and keep a diary of how your condition affects you between assessments, because a reassessment that arrives two years later is much easier if your evidence is already written down.