Work Capability Assessment
(asked on 8th May 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people who underwent a Work Capability Assessment were placed in (1) the work-related activity group, (2) the support group, and (3) the fit-for-work group, for the year January to December 2024, broken down by gender.
The following tables shows the volumes of Work Capability Assessments (WCAs) that were placed in (1) the work-related activity group (WRAG), (2) the support group (SG), and (3) the fit-for-work (FFW) group, for the year January to December 2024, broken down by gender.
For WCA outcomes for the health element of Universal Credit (UC), WRAG is referred to as limited capability for work, SG is referred to as limited capability for work and work-related activity, and FFW is referred to as no limited capability for work.
Volumes cover all WCA outcomes including:
- initial assessments (the first assessment of the claim),
- repeat assessments (subsequent assessments after prognosis period of previous assessment of the claim expires), and
- initial assessments for those moving over from Incapacity Benefit (IB).
ESA WCAs January to December 2024 by gender
| Male | Female | Total |
WRAG | 11,200 | 9,600 | 20,800 |
SG | 43,300 | 47,500 | 90,800 |
FFW | 8,800 | 6,200 | 15,000 |
Source: WCA Administrative Data
UC WCAs January to November 2024 by gender
| Male | Female | Total |
Limited capability for work | 51,600 | 72,000 | 123,700 |
Limited capability for work and work-related activity | 222,900 | 265,800 | 488,700 |
No limited capability for work | 48,000 | 50,500 | 98,500 |
Source: Stat-Xplore
Please note that in both tables, figures may not sum due to rounding.