The rates in 2025-26
Disability Living Allowance for children has two components: care (three rates) and mobility (two rates). A child can be awarded both, one, or neither. As of the April 2025 uprating:
- Care, lowest rate: around £29 per week.
- Care, middle rate: around £74 per week.
- Care, higher rate: around £110 per week.
- Mobility, lower rate: around £29 per week (available from age 5).
- Mobility, higher rate: around £77 per week (available from age 3).
Combined, the maximum (higher care plus higher mobility) is around £187 per week. Verify the current figures against gov.uk before relying on them in any specific case; rates are uprated each April and other thresholds also move.
What gets which rate
The autism diagnosis doesn't set the rate. The DWP assesses what additional help your child needs compared with a non-disabled child of the same age. For autistic children, the most common rate awards are:
- Care, middle rate: frequent care throughout the day or night. Most autistic primary- school-age children with significant support needs qualify here.
- Care, higher rate: frequent care throughout both day and night. Common for children with severe autism, complex co-occurring conditions, or significant sleep disturbance.
- Mobility, lower rate: guidance and supervision needed outdoors most of the time on unfamiliar routes. Many autistic children qualify; covers the “can't safely cross roads on their own / runs off / has no road sense” pattern.
- Mobility, higher rate: severe mental impairment criteria, or physical mobility difficulty. Harder to qualify for autistic children unless very severe; the criteria are narrowly defined.
The middle/higher care threshold matters
Carer's Allowance (paid to the parent providing 35+ hours of unpaid care per week) is only available if the child is on middle or higher rate care. The lower care rate doesn't open it.
If the DWP awards lower care when you believe middle is justified, the Carer's Allowance loss is material; it's often the strongest reason to request a Mandatory Reconsideration. See the sibling answer on Carer's Allowance.
Where the law comes from
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.