Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) – help us to improve the ESA50 Form

March 27, 2012


Members of Professor Harrington’s Fluctuating Conditions Group (who include Dr Charles Shepherd from the ME Association) are in the process of recommending changes to the wording of the ESA50 form.

The ESA50 form is designed to get your views on how your illness, condition or disability affects your ability to perform various specific tasks. Along with the outcome of a medical assessment, this information is then used to help decide if you pass the assessment of limited capability for work. It also helps to decide which group of claimants you are placed in.

If you have any comments which you feel are relevant regarding additional information, clarifications etc please let us know by posting them here or by emailing meconnect@meassociation.org.uk

If possible, please keep comments short and where appropriate include a page number or section reference.

Please note that we are not making making further recommendations regarding changes to the actual descriptors (ie the questions on the form about walking, lifting, manual dexterity etc in the form). This has already been done in our Fluctuating Conditions Group report on WCA, which is now being considered by the DWP.

This request relates to the overall form, information about you, your condition, and the descriptors as a group, that is omitted or not presented in a satisfactory manner (eg inclusion of reliably, repeatedly, safely and in a timely manner in relation to the descriptors), as well as the way in which the various questions are worded.

Thank you to everyone who has already provided feedback on this request. Our apologies for linking the original posting to form ESA50A, which is a modified version of ESA50, but that was the form that came with the request from the DWP.

To download a copy of the correct ESA50 form, please click HERE.


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