The DLA mobility component for children

Updated 8 October 2026 · Checked against GOV.UK, the DLA claim form (DLA1 Child, 10/25) and its notes booklet

The mobility component is the part of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for a child who has difficulty getting about. It has two weekly rates: £80.00 (higher) and £30.30 (lower). It starts later than the care component, with the higher rate from age 3 and the lower rate from age 5.

The two rates and the ages

These are the 2026/27 rates on GOV.UK. Mobility is paid on top of any care award.

The claim form is plain about age: mobility can only be awarded to a child from age 3. If your child is under 3, the form tells you to skip the walking questions and go to question 54.

If you already get DLA for a younger child, GOV.UK says you should be sent a claim pack 6 months before they turn 3 and again 6 months before they turn 5. If no pack arrives and you think your child may qualify, contact the DLA helpline on 0800 121 4600. The booklet adds that if a child cannot get the higher rate, the lower rate can be looked at once they are 5. If they do not already get the care part, a new claim is needed then.

The higher rate in plain words

The higher rate is mainly for a child aged 3 or over whose walking is badly affected by a physical disability, plus a few specific groups. In plain words, your child may qualify if:

• they cannot walk at all;
• they are virtually unable to walk: outdoors their walking is so limited that it barely counts. The law looks at how far they can go, how fast, for how long and the way they walk before severe discomfort stops them;
• walking would endanger them: the effort would put their life at risk or would be likely to seriously harm their health;
• they have no legs or feet: both legs amputated through or above the ankle, or born without legs or feet;
• they have a severe sight impairment: certified as severely sight impaired or blind by a consultant ophthalmologist, with sight below 3/60, or from 3/60 to just below 6/60 with a complete loss of side vision and a central field of no more than 10 degrees;
• they are deafblind: total loss of sight, at least 80% loss of hearing even with their hearing aid, and because of both they cannot walk to where they need to go outdoors without help;
• they are severely mentally impaired with severe behavioural problems and also qualify for the highest rate of care.

That last group has a high bar. The behaviour must be extreme, must regularly need someone to physically restrain the child to prevent injury or damage and must be so unpredictable that someone has to watch over them whenever they are awake.

Walking aids and artificial limbs are taken into account: if your child can walk with a prosthesis or aid they normally use, or could with a suitable one, the DWP looks at their walking with it.

The lower rate: guidance or supervision outdoors

The lower rate is for a child aged 5 or over who can walk but needs someone to guide or supervise them most of the time outdoors in places they do not know well. Any ability to manage familiar routes alone is ignored. For a child under 16 there is an extra test: they must need substantially more guidance or supervision than children of the same age in normal health, or a kind that children their age would not need at all.

The booklet explains the two words. To guide is to physically lead your child or tell them the way. To supervise is to check the route for dangers, keep an eye on how they are coping and coax or encourage them so they keep walking and stay safe.

Fear or anxiety needs care. A child who does not go out because of fear or anxiety does not usually meet the test. The exception is when it is a symptom of a mental disability and is so severe that it stops them getting about outdoors without someone with them.

In the booklet's examples, a child may follow simple directions but not ask for help if lost, accept sweets or a lift from a stranger, panic at traffic noise or crowds, suddenly run across the road to a friend or only manage to cross at a pedestrian crossing.

The 3 month and 6 month rule

Your child must have had the difficulties for at least 3 months before the award can start, and they must be expected to last at least 6 more months. Question 51 says it plainly: normally a child can only get the mobility part if they have needed help for more than 3 months.

The 3 month wait does not apply to a child claimed for under the special rules for the end of life. DLA cannot be backdated, so do not wait longer than you need to.

The walking questions on the form (43 to 53)

The DWP looks at your child's ability to stand and then move on a reasonably flat surface.

• 43: Can the child physically walk? If not, you go to question 51.
• 44: Difficulties standing and moving around? Examples include distance, speed, the way they walk and refusing to walk. If not, you go to question 49.
• 45: How far and how long. Distance boxes: over 200 metres, 51 to 200 metres, 50 metres or less, a few steps. Time boxes: more than 5 minutes, 3 to 4 minutes, 1 to 2 minutes, less than a minute. Count how far they get before they must stop or cannot go on because of severe discomfort or distress.
• 46: Speed. Normal, slow (twice as long as other children) or very slow (cannot keep up).
• 47: The way they walk. Boxes include a limp, shuffling, walking on toes, poor balance and refusing to walk.
• 48: Other effects such as dizziness, breathlessness, tiredness or pain.
• 49: Guidance or supervision outdoors. If yes, yes or no questions follow: can they find their way around places they know, follow directions, walk safely next to a busy road, cross a road and understand common dangers? Do they regularly become disorientated, behave unpredictably or need physical restraint?
• 50: Falls: how many a month, whether they can get up alone and any hospital treatment.
• 51 to 53: when the needs started, Motability information and anything else, including how walking changes from day to day.

The booklet says questions 49 to 53 are for children aged 5 and over, but the claim form only sends children under 3 to question 54. If your child is 3 or 4, skip question 49 (guidance or supervision outdoors, which counts for the lower rate only from age 5) and still answer questions 50 to 53: falls, when the mobility needs started, Motability and the more information box. A child of 3 or over who cannot walk goes from question 43 straight to question 51, as the form says. Answer each road question separately: a child who walks safely next to a busy road but cannot cross one safely is a Yes for the first and a No for the second. For the whole form, see how to fill in the DLA form for a child.

How to measure your child's walking

The booklet suggests these measures:

• an average adult step is just under one metre;
• if your child walks 100 of your steps, they have walked about 90 metres;
• 12 cars parked end to end with small gaps are at least 50 metres;
• check the time when you start and when they stop.

Try it on an ordinary trip. Note where your child stopped, why and what happened next. Our free care diary has space for this, and the DLA rate checker gives an honest likely rate band from your answers.

Motability

The Motability Scheme lets disabled people lease a car, scooter or powered wheelchair in exchange for all or some of their mobility payments. Parents and carers can join on behalf of a child aged 3 and above. Question 52 asks if you want information; the form says the DWP does not share your details with Motability.

Frequently asked questions