PIP dressing and undressing: how to describe your difficulties
A calm, practical guide to the PIP dressing and undressing activity (Question 8 on the PIP2 form). Understand what the DWP is looking for, how to describe your difficulties with getting dressed, and see example notes. This is reference-only and not legal, medical, or benefits advice.
What this activity covers
Activity 6 on the PIP assessment covers your ability to dress and undress yourself. In PIP terms, “dress and undress” includes putting on and taking off all clothing, including socks and shoes. It also covers choosing appropriate clothing for the weather or the situation.
The DWP assesses whether you can dress in normal, everyday clothing. However, tribunal decisions have established that people can reasonably be expected to wear practical alternatives. For example, if you cannot tie laces, wearing slip-on shoes is considered a reasonable alternative. If you cannot raise your arms above your head, wearing a cardigan instead of a pullover may be considered reasonable.
The key question is not just whether you can physically get clothes on and off, but whether you can do it safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly (as often as needed in a day), and in a reasonable time. If you need an aid to dress or to undress (it does not have to be both), that is enough to score points.
How the DWP scores this activity
You are matched to the one descriptor that applies for more than half of the time. Like washing and bathing, the descriptors separate upper body and lower body, with upper body scoring higher.
| Descriptor | Points |
|---|---|
| Can dress and undress unaided | 0 |
| Needs to use an aid or appliance to dress or undress | 2 |
| Needs prompting to dress, undress, or determine appropriate clothing; or prompting or assistance to select appropriate clothing | 2 |
| Needs assistance to dress or undress their lower body | 2 |
| Needs assistance to dress or undress their upper body | 4 |
| Cannot dress or undress at all | 8 |
Needing help with your upper body scores higher (4 points) than needing help with your lower body (2 points). If you need help with both, the higher score applies. Choosing appropriate clothing (including clean clothing) is part of descriptor 6c.
Writing your notes for this activity
Examples: describing dressing and undressing difficulties
Below are examples of how you might describe your difficulties with this activity. These are for illustration only and should not be copied into your own form. Always describe your own experience.
“I cannot bend down far enough to put on socks, shoes, or trousers. My partner puts my socks and shoes on for me every morning and pulls my trousers up after I have stepped into them. I use a long-handled shoe horn on days when my partner is at work but it still takes me about ten minutes to get shoes on. I cannot do up buttons because my fingers are swollen and stiff, so I only wear pull-on tops and elasticated trousers. Getting dressed takes me about 30 minutes and I need to sit down and rest twice during the process.”
“On bad days I do not get dressed at all. I stay in whatever I slept in, sometimes for two or three days in a row. My partner has to tell me to get dressed and lay out clean clothes, because if left to myself I would wear the same thing until someone says something. I do not think about whether my clothes are clean or appropriate. On the days I do get dressed it is usually because I have an appointment and my partner has prompted me and put the clothes out. This happens four or five days a week.”
“I start getting dressed and then get distracted by something else. I have left the house half-dressed several times, once without shoes. I do not think about the weather, so I regularly go out without a coat in winter or wear heavy clothes in summer. My housemate reminds me to finish getting dressed and often tells me to change because what I have put on is not suitable. Getting dressed should take five minutes but it usually takes 20 because I keep stopping to do other things.”
“Getting dressed is one of the most tiring things I do. I have to sit on the bed the whole time and rest after putting on each item. I cannot lift my arms above my head to put on a pullover, so I only wear cardigans or zip-up tops. Putting on socks is extremely difficult because bending forward makes the fatigue worse. On bad days I do not get dressed at all because the energy it would take means I would not be able to do anything else. On those days I stay in loose pyjamas.”
Using GuidedPIPs
GuidedPIPs walks you through the dressing and undressing activity with guided prompts tailored to your conditions. It helps you describe your difficulties step by step, covering upper body, lower body, aids, time taken, and the help you need, so you do not have to figure out the structure on your own.
You can start for free and decide whether full access is right for you.