ESA rates 2026/27

Every Employment and Support Allowance rate for 2026/27, and the question that decides which one is yours: when you claimed.

By James Burfield Rates from gov.uk, checked 6 September 2026 How this works

Why two gov.uk pages give different answers

This is the thing worth knowing, and it is why most of the rates lists you will find are wrong for somebody.

gov.uk's claimant page says the work-related activity group gets £95.55 a week. DWP's own rates paper lists a work-related activity component of £37.95 on top of a £95.55 personal allowance, which comes to £133.50. Both documents are current and both are right.

The Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 removed the work-related activity component. It came into force on 3 April 2017. A claim made on or after that date gets the personal allowance alone. A claim that started before it keeps the component, and so do awards converted from incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance or income support.

So the honest answer to “what is the ESA rate” is a question back: when did you claim. That is a £37.95 a week difference, and it is the one thing a rates table copied from a press release never asks.

The support group check

The arithmetic is worth showing, because it is what proves the model above is right rather than a plausible story.

£95.55 personal allowance plus £50.35 support component is £145.90, which is exactly what gov.uk's claimant page prints for the support group. The same method applied to the work-related activity component only agrees with gov.uk once the 2017 change is taken into account. Two documents, two sets of figures, one answer.

What this page does not cover

These are New Style, contributory ESA figures. Income-related ESA closed to new claims and what it pays depends on a means test, other household income, housing costs and premiums that no rates table can answer. The £22.00 enhanced disability premium and £86.05 severe disability premium apply to income-related awards only, and are listed here for reference rather than added to anything above.

New Style ESA is taxable. If it is your only income no tax is due, because it falls under the personal allowance, but it is added to anything else you earn in the same year. The take-home pay calculator handles that case.

This is a rates page, not advice, and it cannot tell you which group you will be placed in.

Questions

How much is ESA a week in 2026/27?

In the support group, £145.90 a week. In the work-related activity group, £95.55 a week for a claim made on or after 3 April 2017, or £133.50 if your claim started before then. During the 13-week assessment phase it is £95.55 if you are 25 or over and £75.65 if you are under 25.

Why do some sites say the work-related activity group gets £133.50?

Because that was true for claims made before 3 April 2017 and is still true for those claims today. The Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 removed the £37.95 work-related activity component for anyone claiming on or after that date. Both figures are correct; they apply to different people, and which one applies to you depends on when you claimed rather than on your circumstances now.

What is the ESA assessment phase?

The first 13 weeks of a claim, while your capability for work is being assessed. You are paid the personal allowance only, with no component, because you have not been placed in a group yet. If you are later placed in the support group, the higher rate is normally backdated to the start of week 14.

Is ESA taxable?

New Style (contributory) ESA is taxable. Income-related ESA is not. Being taxable does not always mean tax is actually deducted: if ESA is your only income it sits below the £12,570 personal allowance, so no tax is due. It matters when you have other income in the same tax year, because the ESA is added on top.

Can I still claim income-related ESA?

No. Income-related ESA is closed to new claims and has been replaced by Universal Credit. Existing awards continue while the claimant remains eligible. New Style ESA is still open to people with enough recent National Insurance contributions.

Does ESA go up every April?

The rates are set each year in DWP's benefit and pension rates paper and normally rise from the start of the new tax year. The exact day a claimant sees the new figure depends on their own benefit week, so it is not the same date for everybody.