PIP2 example answers
Checked 24 September 2026 against GOV.UK · Sources at the bottom
This is one worked example, run through the free PIP helper. "Priya" is a made-up person - not a real claimant - built to show what the tool actually produces from a set of plain answers, across every activity on the form. The wording below is exactly what the composer wrote, copied without any editing or improvement, with a short note under each one on why it works.
Priya is invented. She's 34, has rheumatoid arthritis (about 5 years) and chronic fatigue syndrome (about 3 years), and is claiming for herself. None of this is a real person's claim.
Why we show real output, not a mock-up
Most guides show you a nicely written "example answer" that somebody wrote specially to look good. That's not what a form-wording tool actually produces, so it's not much use for judging one. Every paragraph below is the composer's genuine output for Priya's invented answers, kept in this site's own test fixtures. Nothing has been reworded, tidied or shortened for this page. Activities Priya wasn't affected by (eating and drinking, toilet and incontinence, communicating, reading) simply produce no answer at all - the composer never invents difficulty that wasn't ticked.
Jump to an answer
Q3, preparing food
I find using a knife, lifting pans and opening packets or jars hard. I use adapted utensils. I need someone to prompt me. I can't do this safely or in a reasonable time. This happens on most days (4 to 7 days a week). My hands lock up on bad days and I've dropped a hot pan twice this year.
Why this works: three specific difficulties, the aid she uses, the honest PIP-test wording her ticked consequences support, how often, and a real dated-in-time example - nothing vague like "I struggle with cooking".
Q5, managing treatments
I find opening bottles or blister packs and measuring a dose hard. I use a pill organiser. I can't do this repeatedly. This happens on 1 or 2 days a week. The blister packs are almost impossible on a flare day, so I sometimes miss my methotrexate.
Why this works: it names the actual medication, not just "my treatment", and the example (a missed methotrexate dose) is the kind of concrete consequence a decision maker can picture.
Q6, washing and bathing
I find getting in or out of the bath or shower and washing my hair hard. I use a shower seat or bath board and grab rails. I can't do this safely or in a reasonable time. This happens on most days (4 to 7 days a week). I slipped reaching for the shampoo in March and now keep everything within easy reach.
Why this works: the example is a genuine safety incident (a slip), which is exactly what the "safely" part of the PIP test is asking about - not a general impression of difficulty.
Q8, dressing and undressing
I find fastening buttons or zips and putting on socks and shoes hard. I use adapted fastenings. I can't do this in a reasonable time. This happens on most days (4 to 7 days a week). Buttons and shoelaces take me ten times as long on a stiff morning.
Why this works: "ten times as long" gives the assessor a real sense of scale for the "reasonable time" part of the test, instead of just saying it's slow.
Q11, mixing with other people
I find being in a group and being around noise or crowds hard. I use quieter times to visit. I can't do this repeatedly. Without help, I get overwhelmed or distressed. This happens on 3 days a week. Fatigue means a couple of hours out with people is all I can manage before I have to leave.
Why this works: it describes what actually happens (leaving early, feeling overwhelmed) rather than a label like "I'm anxious around people" - the form rewards the description, not the diagnosis.
Q12, managing money
Someone else does this for me because brain fog makes it hard to keep track of bills, so my partner took it over after I missed two payments. I need someone to manage my money for me.
Why this reads differently. Priya answered "someone else does it" for this activity, so the composer leads with an honest sentence about why, rather than a list of what's hard - it never invents a difficulty she didn't describe.
Q13, planning and following a journey
I find coping with a change of plan hard. I use a satnav or maps app. I can't do this repeatedly. This happens on 1 or 2 days a week. A cancelled train once left me stranded because I couldn't work out an alternative route.
Why this works: "stranded" and "couldn't work out an alternative route" is a concrete, real-world test of the actual journey-planning question, not a general statement about confidence travelling.
Q14, moving around
I can walk between 50 and 200 metres, using a stick, before I have to stop. I also find standing for more than a few minutes and walking any distance hard. I can't do this in a reasonable time. Without help, pain increases the further I go. This happens on most days (4 to 7 days a week). Walking to the corner shop and back leaves my knees swollen for the rest of the day.
Why this works: the distance band comes first, in metres, with the aid folded into the same sentence - exactly the shape the mobility question is looking for - followed by what happens afterwards, not just during.
Part 4, overall
Day to day, it comes and goes in flare-ups. I have bad days on 16 to 20 days a month, more than half the month. On my worst days: I can't grip a cup, every joint burns, and I stay in bed until the fatigue lifts enough to move. On a typical day: I move slowly, pace every task, and still need to rest between them. The arthritis and the fatigue feed each other - a bad flare wipes me out for days afterwards.
Why the overall answer only appears once. Priya's worst day is described here, in Part 4, not copied into every activity above it. Each activity answer only ever states what's specific to it - what's hard, what she uses, what happens without help - so nothing reads as padding.
What this example has in common across activities
Look across the answers above and the same pattern shows up every time, because it comes from the same questions the helper asks about each activity: what's hard, what aids or help are used, what happens without help, and how often - plus, once, the overall pattern of good and bad days. Priya's conditions are named once, in Q1 - not repeated into every activity, since the form never asks which condition causes which difficulty, only whether it's hard. None of that wording is invented by the helper. It restates what was ticked or typed, in the form's own order. If an answer is thin, the composer doesn't pad it out with detail that wasn't given.
This is also why nothing above claims Priya will get an award. The helper never promises an outcome. What it does is turn specific, honest answers into the kind of wording the form is actually looking for, without changing what was said.
Priya is a made-up example built to show the helper's real output. She is not a real claimant, and nothing here is advice on whether any particular claim will succeed.
More on the PIP form
Common questions
Is Priya a real person?
No. Priya is invented, built only to show what the helper's composer actually writes from a set of plain answers - not a real claimant, and not advice on what any real claim would produce.
Why does Priya have no answer for some activities?
The composer only writes an answer when something was actually ticked or typed. Priya wasn't affected in every activity, so those produce nothing at all - the tool never invents a difficulty that wasn't there.
Why is Priya's Q12 answer shaped differently?
She answered "someone else does it" for managing money, so the composer opens with an honest sentence about why, rather than a list of what's hard for her personally - it restates what she actually said.
Can I copy this wording into my own form?
No - it's built entirely from Priya's invented answers. Use the free helper with your own answers instead, so what you paste actually reflects your own daily life.
Sources
- This site's own PIP helper (app/pip/app/js/composer.js) - real composer output for an invented persona, run through the helper's actual wording engine (see /how-we-test/)