PIP Activity 8: Reading and Understanding Signs - Complete Scoring Guide

Activity 8 covers reading and understanding signs, symbols and words. This is PIP2 Question 10. It applies to anyone who has difficulty reading printed text or understanding written information, whether due to visual impairment, cognitive difficulties or learning disabilities.

The Descriptors and Points

a. Can read and understand basic and complex written information either unaided or using spectacles or contact lenses - 0 points.

b. Needs to use an aid or appliance, other than spectacles or contact lenses, to be able to read or understand either basic or complex written information - 2 points. Glasses and contact lenses do NOT count (the descriptor itself excludes them, because they are considered normal). But magnifiers, screen magnification, large-print formats and coloured overlays DO count.

c. Needs prompting to be able to read or understand complex written information - 2 points. Someone needs to encourage you to read letters, help you focus on the content or explain what it means.

d. Needs prompting to be able to read or understand basic written information - 4 points.

e. Cannot read or understand signs, symbols or words at all - 8 points. This covers people who cannot see or make out text at all and need everything read to them - the DWP guidance gives the example of a learning disability or severe visual impairment.

"Basic" vs "Complex" Information

Basic: the regulations define this as signs, symbols and dates in standard size print in your native language - road signs, shop signs, bus numbers, simple labels, the date on an appointment letter. The DWP guidance's own example is a green exit sign on a door.

Complex: more than one sentence of standard size print in your native language - letters from the DWP, bank statements, medication leaflets, forms, emails, news articles.

If you can read a shop sign but cannot understand a DWP letter without someone explaining it, you score on complex information (2 points). If you struggle with even basic signs and labels, you score higher.

Who Scores on This Activity?

This isn't just about literacy. People with visual impairments, cognitive conditions, dyslexia, brain injuries, dementia, learning disabilities and severe anxiety about written information all score on this activity. If medication causes brain fog that prevents you processing written text, that counts too.

Think about practical situations: Can you read a letter from the DWP and understand what it's asking? Can you read a bus timetable? Can you read medication labels? Can you read road signs while walking? If you need someone to read and explain any of these, you score points.

What Counts as an Aid Under Activity 8

The DWP's official guidance excludes ordinary spectacles and contact lenses from being "aids" - if normal corrective lenses let you read normally, you do not score descriptor b. It also treats prisms built into your normal spectacle prescription as part of the glasses, although a larger prism that has to be held in front of your usual glasses is an aid. But many other things do count:

• Magnifying glasses or video magnifiers (CCTV magnifiers, electronic readers)
• Screen magnification on a computer, phone or tablet - the DWP guidance's own examples are screen magnification indoors and a portable magnifying glass outdoors
• Coloured overlays or filters (Irlen overlays, Reading Rulers) for dyslexia or visual stress
• Large print materials requested specifically because regular print is unreadable - the regulations define written information as standard size text, so needing it enlarged means you need an aid to read it
• Picture exchange or symbol systems for learning disability

If you need to use any of these on the majority of days, descriptor b applies (2 points).

Screen readers (JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, TalkBack), text-to-speech apps and camera readers such as OrCam or Envision need more care. If you can still see and read the text but use them to cope with it (dyslexia, brain fog, concentration), describe them as aids under descriptor b and explain why you cannot manage without them. But if you cannot see or make out the text at all and rely on them, or on Braille or another person, to access everything, you are not reading with an aid: the regulations say "read" does not include reading Braille and the DWP guidance says that to count as able to read you must be able to see the information. That is descriptor e (8 points), not descriptor b. The guidance's own example for descriptor e is someone who needs another person to read everything for them because of a learning disability or severe visual impairment. Make clear on the form that you cannot see the text at all, not just that you use a screen reader.

Conditions That Commonly Score Activity 8

• Sight loss - including macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa, cataracts not corrected by surgery, hemianopia after stroke
• Dyslexia - genuine difficulty processing written language, often combined with slow reading speed and poor comprehension
• Learning disability - any moderate or severe learning disability typically affects reading comprehension
• Acquired brain injury - reading comprehension is one of the most common post-injury difficulties
• Dementia - early dementia often shows as inability to follow written information even when single words can be read
• Stroke - alexia, dyslexia or aphasia affecting reading
• Brain fog from fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, Long Covid or chemotherapy
• ADHD - cannot maintain attention long enough to read more than a paragraph
• Autism - difficulty processing densely written information, often need things explained verbally
• Severe anxiety - cannot read DWP or official letters without becoming overwhelmed and needing someone to read on their behalf
• Multiple sclerosis - visual impairment from optic neuritis, cognitive impairment affecting reading

The Reliability Test Applied to Reading

Under PIP Regs 2013 reg 4(2A), you must be able to read safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and within a reasonable time, and under reg 7 a descriptor has to apply on more than half of the days. For Activity 8, common reliability failures:

• Not safely - missing medication warning labels because you skim, or misreading dosing instructions
• Not to an acceptable standard - reading the words but not understanding what they mean, leading to missed appointments or unpaid bills (the DWP guidance says memory and retaining information are outside this activity, so focus on understanding, not forgetting)
• Not repeatedly - can read for 5 minutes then cognitive fatigue prevents further reading for hours
• Not within reasonable time - takes 30 minutes to read what a typical person would read in 5

Describe the specific reliability problem on the form, not just "I have trouble reading."

How to Describe Reading Difficulty Convincingly

Generic statements score nothing. Specific examples score points:

• Weak: "I find reading hard."
• Strong: "I can read a paragraph of large-print text but I cannot read a standard DWP letter without my partner reading it aloud to me. Last month I missed a hospital appointment because I misread the date on the letter."
• Weak: "I have dyslexia."
• Strong: "I have a confirmed dyslexia diagnosis (private assessment report attached). I read at half typical adult speed and lose comprehension after one paragraph. I use a Reading Ruler for any text longer than a label. I cannot read medication information leaflets and need my husband to summarise them."
• Weak: "I can't see well."
• Strong: "I have advanced macular degeneration in both eyes (RNIB registered as severely sight impaired). Even with my magnifying glass and large print, I cannot read newspapers, bills or correspondence. My daughter reads my post to me daily."

Frequently Asked Questions

I can physically read words but don't understand what they mean. Does that count?

Yes. This activity covers understanding, not just reading aloud. If you can read the words in a DWP letter but can't understand what they're asking you to do, you need help to understand written information - and that scores.

I use a magnifier or large print. Does that count as an aid?

Yes. Using any aid to read - magnifier, large print, screen magnification, coloured overlays - means you need an aid to read, which scores under descriptor b (2 points). If aids aren't enough and you still need someone to help, descriptors c, d or e apply instead (2, 4 or 8 points depending on whether the help is with complex information, basic information or everything).

Do glasses count as an aid for Activity 8?

Generally no. Descriptor a covers reading either unaided or using spectacles or contact lenses, so glasses do not count as a PIP aid whatever the prescription, and the DWP guidance says prisms built into your normal spectacle prescription are part of the glasses too. What does count is anything you need on top of your glasses: a magnifier, screen magnification, a larger prism that has to be held in front of your usual glasses or coloured overlays. Tinted lenses for visual stress (Irlen syndrome) are a grey area because they are still spectacles, so explain what they do that ordinary glasses cannot.

I read my phone fine but cannot read official letters - how do I describe this?

The issue is comprehension of complex written information, not basic reading. Make this explicit on the form. Mention that you use text-to-speech on your phone for emails, that you cannot understand official letters from the DWP, HMRC, your landlord or your bank without help and who reads them for you.

Will the assessor test me on the call?

For phone assessments, no - they cannot show you written text. They will ask functional questions like "do you read newspapers, books or labels?" and "do you receive help with letters?" For face-to-face assessments, occasionally they show a paragraph and ask you to read it. Performance under pressure in a one-off test is not representative of typical reading function - say so.

I find reading exhausting because of my chronic illness - does that count?

Yes. Cognitive fatigue is a common feature of ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, MS, Long Covid and many neurological conditions. If you can read for short periods but become too exhausted to function afterwards, this fails the "repeatedly" reliability test. Describe the trade-off: reading a long letter means you cannot cook dinner that evening.

Does Activity 8 apply if I can read English but English is not my first language?

No. PIP assesses disability, not language proficiency. If the only reason you struggle to read English is because it is your second language, that is not a PIP qualifying issue. However, if you have additional cognitive or visual impairment on top of being a non-native speaker, that does score.

I cannot read but I can listen to audio versions - is that good enough?

If you cannot see or make out printed text at all and depend on audio versions, a screen reader or another person reading to you, you are not reading for this activity - the DWP guidance says you must be able to see the information to count as reading, just as Braille does not count. That points to descriptor e (8 points), not descriptor b. Descriptor b (2 points) is for aids that let you see and read the text yourself, such as a magnifier or screen magnification. If you can still read some text and only need audio for longer documents, describe exactly what you can and cannot read and how long it takes you.