DLA for children: how to write the form so you get the right rate

What DLA actually is

A specific UK benefit for children under 16 with significant care or mobility needs. Not means-tested, not taxed.

DLA pays a weekly cash amount to families of children under 16 who need more care or supervision than a child of the same age without the condition. It exists alongside any other income; it is not means-tested. It is not taxable. It does not count against most other benefits and can unlock additions to Universal Credit (the disabled-child element) and Carer's Allowance for a parent.

From age 16, DLA is replaced by Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The 16th birthday triggers a separate application process; getting DLA does not automatically transfer.

Critically, DLA is not based on diagnosis. A child without any diagnosis but with significant care needs can qualify; a child with a diagnosis whose support needs are minor may not. The test is care, not label.

The rates in 2026 and what they mean

Two components, each with multiple rates. Knowing the rates lets you target the right one.

DLA weekly rates for 2026-27 (subject to annual uprating):

Many SEND families qualify for middle-rate care plus lower-rate mobility (autistic children with road safety concerns); some qualify for the higher rates. Higher-rate mobility under the severe mental impairment route applies where there is severe learning disability and behaviour requiring extreme supervision.

The test: substantially more care than a child without the condition

The legal test. The form is asking you to demonstrate this, not to list diagnoses.

The Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (the legal basis for DLA) sets the test for children: a child qualifies if, by reason of physical or mental disablement, they require attention or supervision “substantially in excess” of that normally required by a child of the same age, or there are substantial requirements that younger persons in normal health would not have.

The phrase that matters: substantially in excess. The DWP decision maker is comparing your child to a neurotypical child of the same age. The job of the form is to make the difference visible.

This is why “needs help with breakfast” loses you points: every 4-year-old needs help with breakfast. “Needs me to sit through the entire 35-minute breakfast prompting him to keep eating because he'll otherwise stop after two mouthfuls and run upstairs to his Lego, three days a week he refuses the food after I've made it and we have a meltdown taking 20 minutes more” wins them. The specificity is the work.

The single secret of the DLA form: specific examples

Cerebra, Contact and NDCS's guidance all converge on one point: anecdotes beat summaries, every time.

For each section of the form, the answers that score highest follow this shape:

1. What needs to happen. “Help to choose clothes.”
2. What you actually do. “I lay out the three options the night before, otherwise he stands in his pants for 30 minutes unable to decide.”
3. How often. “Every school morning.”
4. How long. “Plus a 10-minute prompt during the dressing itself.”
5. What happens if you don't. “If I'm not there, he comes downstairs without trousers, or in last week's clothes still in his laundry basket.”
6. What this compares to. “His 7-year-old sister chooses clothes and dresses herself in under 5 minutes.”

The diary week: the most useful preparation

Keep a week-long diary before you fill in the form. This is the most useful preparation you can do.

A workable diary format:

• One A4 page per day.
• Time of day at the left margin.
• What needed help, what you did, how long, what would have happened without you.
• Include nights: settling, waking, getting back to sleep, supervising during the night.
• Include emotional regulation support, sensory support, communication scaffolding, not just physical care.
• Compare to siblings or to expected age-norms in a note at the end of the day.

A week shows the picture; a single day rarely does. Many SEND parents are stunned when they see the diary written out. The form benefits from quoting specific entries (“On Tuesday I had to talk her through tooth-brushing for 18 minutes”).

Evidence to include

Supporting documents strengthen the application. Send copies (not originals).

• Diagnostic reports. Autism/ADHD assessment, paediatric letters.
• EHCP if you have one. Sections B and F are particularly useful for DLA.
• SEN Support plan if no EHCP.
• Specialist reports. Educational Psychologist, SaLT, OT, CAMHS.
• School letters describing the support needed (the SENDCO usually writes these on request).
• The diary. The week you kept.
• Photographs or videos of equipment, adaptations, or specific behaviours where they explain something hard to put into words.

Keep a complete copy of the form and everything sent. You will need this if there's a reconsideration.

Common mistakes that cost the rate

The patterns that experienced welfare advisers see most often.

• Underplaying out of stoicism. Many parents minimise the load because that's how they cope. The form needs the real picture, not a sanitised one.
• Generic answers. “Needs help washing” without examples.
• Forgetting the night. Many SEND children need significant night support. This is a major route to middle-rate care; many forms omit it.
• Not describing supervision. Watching/being present so they don't bolt into the road, hurt themselves, or eat something they shouldn't is supervision and counts.
• Counting only physical care. Emotional regulation support, communication scaffolding, sensory management all count for care. They are easy to forget because they don't look like “care.”
• Missing the road-safety mobility route. Autistic children with no road sense often qualify for lower-rate mobility from age 5. Many parents don't apply for the mobility component at all.
• Not sending evidence. Cited but not attached.
• Filing the form in a low-energy moment. This is a 2-3-evening job. Give it time.

After the decision: mandatory reconsideration and appeals

If the decision is wrong, you have routes. Use them.

DWP decision rates for child DLA are mixed: around half of initial decisions are refused or underawarded; tribunal success rates are around 65%. The system expects most rejected applications to come back.

1. Mandatory reconsideration. Request within one month of the decision. Send any new evidence. The decision is looked at again, often by a different decision maker.
2. Appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Entitlement Chamber). Within one month of the mandatory reconsideration notice. Free. Independent judges. Hearings can be papers-only or in person; in person significantly increases success.
3. Specialist help. Welfare rights advisers in your local authority, Citizens Advice, Contact (0808 808 3555), or Cerebra. Free, regulated, used to DLA appeals.

Tribunal hearings are not as scary as parents imagine. You describe your child's day. The judges are familiar with the picture. Most parents who attend their hearing win or get a partial increase.

What to do this week

Three things.

1. Download Cerebra's DLA guide. Free. Takes you through every question on the form. The most useful single resource.
2. Start the diary today. Pen and paper or phone notes. One week minimum.
3. Order the form. Call DWP DLA helpline on 0800 121 4600 (English) or apply via gov.uk. Don't fill it in until the diary and supporting evidence are ready.