What are the walking criteria for a Blue Badge?

Two routes: automatic or assessed

There isn't a single walking test that everyone has to pass. Under the Department for Transport guidance for England, people qualify in one of two ways.

• Automatically, because a benefit or award they already get proves the need.
• After an assessment by the local council, based on evidence of how their condition affects walking or journeys.

Who qualifies automatically

You automatically qualify if you're aged 3 or over and at least one of these applies:

• You get the higher rate of the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
• You get Personal Independence Payment (PIP) because you can't walk more than 50 metres, which means 8 points or more under the "moving around" activity of the mobility component.
• You get the mobility component of PIP with 10 points for descriptor E under "planning and following journeys", because any journey would cause you overwhelming psychological distress.
• You're registered blind (severely sight impaired).
• You get a War Pensioners' Mobility Supplement.
• You got an Armed Forces Compensation Scheme lump sum within tariff levels 1 to 8, and you're certified as having a permanent and substantial disability that makes you unable to walk or causes very considerable difficulty walking.

The PIP detail catches many people out. Only the 10-point descriptor E counts automatically under "planning and following journeys". Any other score in that activity, including 12 points, doesn't give automatic entitlement. You can still apply, but the council will assess your evidence.

The walking criteria the council assesses

If you don't qualify automatically, the council decides. For walking, you may be eligible if one or more of these applies:

• you can't walk at all
• you can't walk without help from someone else or without mobility aids
• you find walking very difficult because of pain, breathlessness or the time it takes
• walking is dangerous to your health and safety
• you have a life-limiting illness that means you can't walk or find walking very difficult, and you have an SR1 form

The guidance also covers people with a severe disability in both arms who drive regularly but can't work pay-and-display machines, and parents of children under 3 who must always have bulky medical equipment with them or stay near a vehicle for emergency treatment.

Hidden (non-visible) conditions

You may also qualify if you struggle severely to plan or follow a journey, are a constant significant risk to yourself or others near traffic, find it hard or impossible to control your actions, have intense responses that cause temporary loss of behavioural control, or frequently become extremely anxious or fearful of public or open spaces. The online form asks how journeys between the car and your destination are affected.

What the council looks at

For walking difficulties, the form asks how your condition affects your walking, and for details of any relevant medication, treatments, and the healthcare professionals involved. You can upload supporting documents such as prescriptions, diagnosis letters or letters between professionals. Councils can't start assessing until they have all the evidence they need, which is why incomplete applications take longer.

When you describe your walking, be specific and describe a typical day as well as a bad one. Say roughly how far you can walk before pain, breathlessness or exhaustion stops you, how long it takes, whether you need to stop and rest, which aids you use, and what happens afterwards. Vague phrases like "I struggle a bit" give an assessor little to go on.

How to apply, what it costs and how long it takes

In England, Scotland and Wales you apply on GOV.UK. Northern Ireland has a different process. You'll need proof of identity, proof of address, a recent head-and-shoulders digital photo, your National Insurance number if you have one, and proof of any qualifying benefit. For PIP, that's the pages of your DWP letter showing your entitlement and your mobility scores.

A Blue Badge costs up to £10 in England and £20 in Scotland, and it's free in Wales. Badges usually last up to 3 years, and you must reapply before your current badge expires. Councils usually decide within 12 weeks, although the guidance warns it can take 12 weeks or longer.

If you're refused

The council should tell you why. If you think it didn't take all your information into account, you can ask it to reconsider. You can also reapply if your mobility gets worse. A new application with clearer, more specific evidence is often more successful than the first one.

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