The AR1 PIP Review Form Guide, Question by Question
A free 10-page PDF to keep beside the form: what every question on the current AR1 is asking, in plain English, with the real question numbers.
Guide dated 31 October 2026 · For the form printed 11/25 Version 3.0
Got the Personal Independence Payment Review form through the door? It has 25 pages and 85 numbered questions, and they are not the same questions as the PIP2. If you are working out how to fill in the PIP review form, this guide goes through it in order, so you can see what each box is asking before you write in it. It explains the questions and leaves the words to you: there are no answers to copy, because only what is true for you belongs on the form.
What is inside the AR1 form guide
The tick that skips a whole activityEvery activity opens with "Can you manage...?". A Yes takes you past every other box in it. See the three wordings and where each Yes sends you.
Every activity, with its numbersQ24 to Q82: aid, prompting or supporting, help, how often, why and when, with what the form says it can and cannot consider.
Activity 9 and Activity 12The two that work differently. Q64 to Q68 on who helps you, and Q77 to Q82 on the distance bands, pausing, a prescribed aid against one you bought, and Q83.
The rules behind the boxesMore than half of the days and the four reliability words: safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time.
Before and after the activitiesQ01 to Q23 (who to name, consent, conditions, medication, treatment, hospital stays) and Q83 to Q85.
Deadline, sending and keepingYour return date, how to ask for more time, what to send, what not to send, a tick list before you post and a note for Northern Ireland.
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Read page 3 before you tick anything, then keep the guide beside the form as you go.
We have also emailed you the download link, with three tips for using it, so you can come back to it any time.
Next: see one of your review answers, free
The guide shows what each question asks. See how one activity of your own reads, question by question for the AR1, free, no card, about two minutes. Keep only what is true for you.
Look at the bottom of any page. This guide is for the form marked AR1, printed 11/25, with Version 3.0 on page 24. The earlier 11/24 print asks the same questions. DWP sends the AR1 to people with an award of up to 10 years who are due a review, and when someone reports a change of circumstances.
A form marked PIP AR2 is a different, 8-page form for ongoing awards at the 10-year point, and this guide does not cover it. The old "How your disability affects you" form from June 2018, with three boxes per activity, was replaced on GOV.UK in November 2024.
A guide to keep, not a form to copy
Each page follows the form's own numbers, so you can find your place quickly on a day when concentrating is hard. It quotes the question, says what it is asking in plain words and notes anything that catches people out, such as Q56 being printed "Do you need supporting?" or Q80 asking only about a prescribed aid. Every fact in it was checked against GOV.UK, legislation.gov.uk and nidirect on the date shown, and the sources are listed on the last page.
Tell us your conditions and what you need help with. One activity comes back question by question for the AR1, based on what you tell us. Keep only what is true for you.
Yes. Enter your email and the PDF downloads straight away, with no payment and no card details. We fund it through our paid PIP guidance service. We may send occasional PIP guidance emails, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Which version of the form does it cover?+
The Personal Independence Payment Review form with AR1 at the bottom of each page, printed 11/25 Version 3.0, which is the version on GOV.UK. The earlier 11/24 print asks the same questions with the same numbers. The guide is dated 31 October 2026. If your form is a later print or the numbers do not match, follow your own form.
What if my form says AR2?+
This guide is not for that form. The AR2 is an 8-page form for people with an ongoing award at the 10-year point. It has no activity pages and asks at Q16 to Q18 whether your condition, daily living needs or mobility needs have changed.
Does the guide give me answers to copy?+
No. It explains what each question is asking and what the form says it can and cannot consider. The words are yours, because you sign a declaration that they are correct and complete. Only write what is true for you.
How long do I have to send the form back, and can I get more time?+
The date is on the front of the form, and GOV.UK says you need to return it within 1 month. If you need more time, contact the PIP enquiry line on 0800 121 4433 before that date. In Northern Ireland contact the PIP Centre on 0800 587 0932 instead.
Does it work in Northern Ireland, Wales or Scotland?+
Wales uses the same form, and you can ask for it in Welsh. In Northern Ireland the PIP Centre runs PIP, and no sample of its review form is published, so we could not check the wording line by line: the guide has a note on what to do. In Scotland this form does not apply, because PIP has been replaced by Adult Disability Payment.