ESA caseload falls 39% as claimants move to Universal Credit

The number of people receiving Employment and Support Allowance fell by 39.0% to 810,000 claimants between February 2025 and March 2026, according to the Department for Work and Pensions¹. The department published the figures on 15 September 2026 in its Annual DWP Benefits Statistics Compendium, which covers benefits in Great Britain¹.

The same release reports that Housing Benefit fell by 23.2% to 1.4 million claims and Jobseeker's Allowance fell by 5.0% to 77,000 claimants over the same period¹. The State Pension caseload rose by 2.0% to 13 million¹. Universal Credit stood at 8.3 million claimants at March 2026¹.

The department attributes the legacy benefit trends to the move to Universal Credit, which is replacing income-related ESA, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance and Housing Benefit for working age claimants¹. It said the programme is close to being complete, with primarily those customers who require time to find an appointee left to complete the process¹. Between January 2026 and the end of April 2026, just over 2,000 migration notices had been sent, compared with 340,000 in the same period in 2025¹.

Caseloads at March 2026, with changes against February 2025¹:

Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand. Attendance Allowance, Carer's Allowance, Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance exclude figures for Scotland¹.

This is the first edition published under a new annual format, following a reduction in publication frequency from quarterly to annual¹. Because of the change, the previous-year comparisons use February 2025 rather than March 2025, and the previous-quarter comparisons use November 2025¹. The department said this one-off difference in comparison points does not represent a gap in the underlying data or in the method used, and that future releases will compare March to March¹.

The release also notes that all Scottish recipients of Attendance Allowance, Carer's Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment have now been transferred from DWP to Social Security Scotland, and that DWP no longer administers these benefits in Scotland¹. DWP statistics for those four benefits therefore no longer represent the full caseloads of equivalent benefits across Great Britain¹.

Why it matters for households

The fall in the ESA caseload reflects people moving across to Universal Credit rather than the benefit ending without replacement. Households that received income-related ESA, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or Housing Benefit as working age claimants have been contacted by DWP and told they must claim Universal Credit to continue receiving means-tested support¹. How much a household receives under Universal Credit depends on the standard allowance and extra elements it qualifies for, which can differ from the legacy award it replaces.

The figures also show the scale of the shift: Universal Credit rose by 774,100 claimants over the year to March 2026, while ESA fell by 518,300 and Housing Benefit by 438,000¹. Pension Credit, which is not part of the move to Universal Credit, fell by 14,200 over the year to 1,381,700 claimants¹.

The Scottish figures matter for anyone comparing disability and carer benefit numbers across nations: DWP no longer administers Attendance Allowance, Carer's Allowance, Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment in Scotland, and its statistics exclude Scottish recipients of those benefits¹.

What happens next

The next release of the compendium is scheduled for 21 September 2027 on GOV.UK and Stat-Xplore¹. From that release, annual comparisons will be made on a consistent March-to-March basis¹. DWP has said it is no longer providing Income Support statistics, with November 2025 the final release¹.