PIP Activity 1: Preparing Food - Complete Scoring Guide

Activity 1 covers preparing and cooking a simple one-course meal for one person using fresh ingredients. This is PIP2 Question 3. Many people score 0 on this activity because they write "I can make a sandwich" without understanding what the DWP actually means by "preparing food."

What Does "Simple Meal" Mean?

The PIP definition is specific: a simple meal means a cooked one-course meal for one person from fresh ingredients. Think of peeling and chopping vegetables, using a hob or oven, monitoring cooking temperatures and times. It does NOT mean making a sandwich or heating a ready meal. Cooking fresh ingredients in a microwave still counts as cooking, but being able to cook only in a microwave rather than on a conventional cooker is scored separately under descriptor c. If you can only heat a ready meal, that is not cooking a simple meal, but the assessor still looks at what you could do with fresh ingredients rather than at what you actually eat.

The Descriptors and Points

a. Can prepare and cook a simple meal unaided - 0 points. You can do the entire process independently without help, aids or supervision.

b. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to either prepare or cook a simple meal - 2 points. You need a perching stool, adapted utensils, one-handed chopping board, easy-grip handles or similar aids. If you need any of these to be able to prepare or cook a simple meal, you score at least 2.

c. Cannot cook a simple meal using a conventional cooker but is able to do so using a microwave - 2 points. You can use a microwave but cannot safely use a cooker hob. Not being able to bend down to an oven does not count, because cooking is assessed at waist height or above. Many people with pain, fatigue or balance problems score here.

d. Needs prompting to be able to either prepare or cook a simple meal - 2 points. Someone needs to remind you to make a meal, remind you food is cooking or encourage you to prepare food. Common with depression, ADHD and cognitive conditions.

e. Needs supervision or assistance to either prepare or cook a simple meal - 4 points. Someone needs to be present for safety while you cook, or physically help you (e.g. lifting pans, chopping). This is often the correct descriptor for people with severe pain or balance problems, and for people with unpredictable seizures who could not safely use even a microwave.

f. Cannot prepare and cook food - 8 points. You can neither prepare nor cook food, even with supervision or assistance from another person. If you can do one of the two but not the other, one of the lower descriptors applies instead.

How the Reliability Criteria Apply

Even if you CAN cook on your best day, consider:

• Safely - can you handle knives, hot pans and boiling water in a way that is unlikely to cause harm to you or anyone else, during or after cooking? If your hands shake, you get dizzy or you have seizures without warning, cooking is not safe.
• Repeatedly - could you cook a simple meal as often as you reasonably need to over the day, not just once? If cooking one meal exhausts you so that you could not do it again when you next needed to, you cannot do it repeatedly.
• Reasonable time - if a simple meal takes you over an hour instead of 30 minutes, this fails.
• Acceptable standard - if the food is consistently undercooked or overcooked because you cannot concentrate, this fails.

Failing ANY ONE of these means you do not satisfy that descriptor, and the assessor should move to the descriptor you can satisfy reliably, for example with an aid, prompting, supervision or assistance.

Common Conditions That Affect This Activity

Chronic pain (cannot stand long enough), fatigue conditions like ME/CFS and fibromyalgia (too exhausted to cook), mental health conditions (no motivation, cannot concentrate), ADHD (forget food is cooking), epilepsy (seizure risk near hot surfaces), arthritis (cannot grip utensils), POTS/dizziness (unsafe standing at cooker), visual impairment (cannot see cooking progress).

What to Write on Your Form

Do NOT write: "I struggle with cooking sometimes."

DO write: "I cannot safely prepare a simple one-course meal from fresh ingredients. My [condition] causes [specific symptom] which means I cannot [specific task]. On [X] days per week, I am unable to cook at all and rely on [person/ready meals]. I use [aids] but even with these I cannot complete the task safely/repeatedly/in a reasonable time. I need [supervision/help] from [person] on most days."

Specific Aids That Score Activity 1 Descriptor b

Any of these can count as an aid (2 points) if you need it because of your condition, rather than using it the way someone without your condition would (an ordinary pan with a rubber grip handle used for ease does not count):

• Perching stool (cannot stand long enough at worktop)
• Adapted cutlery and utensils (easy-grip handles, weighted)
• One-handed chopping board with spikes
• Jar opener (electric or manual)
• Tin opener (electric)
• Pan with two handles (cannot lift one-handed)
• Lightweight pans (cannot lift heavy ones)
• Lever taps
• Long-handled grabber (cannot reach high cupboards)
• Talking timer or kitchen scales (visual impairment)
• Slow cooker (avoid hob)
• Air fryer (cannot use a hob safely)
• Adapted cooker controls

Relying on pre-cut or pre-prepared ingredients is not an aid in itself. The assessor asks whether you could peel and chop fresh ingredients: if you could with an aid such as a spiked board, descriptor b applies, and if you could not do it safely even with an aid, descriptor e applies because you need assistance to prepare the meal.

Why "Microwave Only" Scores 2 Points

Descriptor c (2 points) recognises that many people cannot use a conventional cooker safely. Reasons include:

• Pain prevents standing at the cooker for required time
• Tremor makes handling boiling water unsafe
• Cognitive issues mean you forget food on the hob (fire risk)
• Seizure risk near open flame
• Balance issues mean falls risk at the cooker
• Vision impairment cannot see cooking progress safely
• Fatigue prevents the active monitoring cooking requires

If you only eat microwave meals, ready meals, sandwiches or takeaways because you cannot safely use a hob, but you could cook fresh ingredients in a microwave, descriptor c (2 points) applies. Many claimants miss this entirely.

The "Prompting" Scenario

Descriptor d (2 points) for needing prompting often applies in:

• Depression: no motivation to eat, would not cook without partner's reminder
• ADHD: forget food is cooking, get distracted, leave hob on
• Dementia: forget to eat, forget mid-task, burn food
• Schizophrenia / severe mental illness: cannot self-initiate basic tasks
• Autism: routine disruption prevents flexible cooking

Document who prompts you and what would happen without prompting (no eating, eating from packets, takeaway).

Supervision for Safety - Descriptor e (4 points)

Common scenarios:

• Epilepsy with unpredictable seizures where even a microwave is not safe without someone present
• Severe balance disorders - falls risk at the cooker
• Severe vision impairment - cannot judge hot surfaces safely
• Cognitive impairment - might forget cooking is on
• Severe tremor/dyskinesia - dropping hot pans risk

If you can only cook safely when someone is with you for the whole time you are cooking, descriptor e (4 points) applies. The person doesn't have to actively help - their continuous presence for safety is enough. Someone simply being elsewhere in the house is not supervision.

Frequently Asked Questions

I eat takeaways and ready meals - what do I score?

If you cannot use a conventional cooker safely, descriptor c (2 points). If you cannot even use a microwave reliably, you may score higher. Describe what would happen if you tried to cook from fresh ingredients.

What if I never learned to cook?

The test is whether you have the FUNCTIONAL ability to cook. Not having learned is not the same as inability. However, if a learning disability or cognitive impairment prevents you from learning to follow recipes, this is PIP-relevant.

I have a partner who does all the cooking - what do I score?

The relevant question is what YOU could do, not what you do because your partner cooks. If your partner cooks because you cannot safely or reliably do it, describe what would happen without their help. If you could cook but choose not to, you may not qualify.

Does using a slow cooker count as an aid?

Yes if you use it because you cannot safely use a conventional cooker, rather than for convenience. Used that way the slow cooker is an aid (and avoids hob use), so descriptor b applies. Descriptor c is separate: it only applies if you can cook a simple meal in a microwave but not on a conventional cooker.

I can cook but not every day - what do I score?

Apply the majority of days test. If on more than half of days you cannot cook a simple meal from fresh ingredients, descriptor applies. Document the typical pattern.

What if I have an eating disorder?

Eating disorders affect Activity 2 (taking nutrition) more directly but can also affect Activity 1. If your anorexia prevents you from cooking food you need to eat, or your binge disorder causes you to avoid cooking, describe the impact.

Does dietary restriction count?

Not on its own. Activity 1 tests your functional ability to prepare and cook a simple meal, and a restricted diet such as coeliac disease, diabetes or severe allergies does not change that by itself. It only becomes relevant where your condition means you need prompting, supervision or assistance with the cooking itself, for example a cognitive impairment that stops you judging whether food is safe for you to eat. Describe that need rather than the diet.