Light-touch vs intensive work search on Universal Credit: the 2026 conditionality regimes

Universal Credit does not treat every claimant the same. If you are working and earning enough, DWP will not require you to look for more work. If you are not earning enough, you will be asked to spend up to 35 hours a week on job search. The earnings figures that decide which group you are in are called the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET) and the Conditionality Earnings Threshold (CET). They have both been raised several times in the last three years and are checked against your actual earnings every assessment period.

This guide explains the three main conditionality groups, the thresholds that sort you between them, and what each group is required to do in practical terms. Primary-source note: the AET and CET figures are updated by DWP regulations each April and occasionally mid-year. Before relying on a specific pound-per-week figure, verify against DWP's AET guidance on GOV.UK.

The three conditionality groups

Universal Credit sorts every working-age claimant into one of these groups (sometimes called labour-market regimes):

• No work-related requirements. You have no job-search or work-preparation requirements at all. This is the group for people assessed with Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA), lead carers of children under one, people caring 35+ hours a week for someone on a qualifying disability benefit, and pregnant claimants in the 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth.
• Work-focused interview only. Periodic interviews with a work coach, no job-search requirement. Lead carers of a child aged 1 sit here.
• Work preparation. Interviews plus agreed work-preparation activities (for example, training, CV work, a skills assessment). Lead carers of a child aged 2, and people with LCW (but not LCWRA), sit here.
• Intensive work search. Full conditionality. A claimant commitment setting out up to 35 hours a week of job-search activity, regular work coach meetings, and a duty to accept reasonable job offers. This is the default for people on UC who are not working, or who are earning below the AET.
• Light-touch. You are working and earning at or above the AET but below the CET. You have periodic work-focused interviews and must keep your earnings from falling below the AET. No 35-hour job-search expectation.
• Working-enough (no conditionality by earnings). You are earning at or above the CET. You still receive UC if your household circumstances entitle you to it, but your work coach cannot require extra hours or job-change activity.

The Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET)

The AET is the lower of the two earnings figures. It is the point at which DWP decides a claimant is working enough to move out of the intensive work search regime and into light-touch.

The AET has been tightened repeatedly. It is now set at earnings equivalent to 18 hours a week at the National Living Wage for an individual, and 29 hours a week for a couple. For the 2024-25 and 2025-26 tax years that translated roughly to:

• Individual AET (2024-25): £892 per calendar month of earnings (18 hours × NLW × 52 ÷ 12).
• Joint couple AET (2024-25): £1,437 per calendar month of combined earnings.

Each April the cash amounts update with the National Living Wage. The exact 2026-27 figures will depend on the April 2026 uprating and any further policy change; treat the numbers above as illustrative and always check the figure against live DWP guidance before committing to a decision based on the threshold.

The Conditionality Earnings Threshold (CET)

The CET is the higher threshold. Meet it and you have no work-related requirements based on earnings (you can still have requirements waived for health or caring reasons too). The CET is set at the amount you could reasonably be expected to earn — for a single adult without dependants or health conditions, this is 35 hours a week at the National Living Wage.

The CET is tailored in some circumstances:

• Lead carers. If you are the lead carer of a child aged 3 to 12, your expected hours are scaled back to fit around school or childcare. Your individual CET is recalculated accordingly.
• Health conditions. If you have an LCW finding, your expected hours are reduced. With LCWRA there are no earnings-based requirements at all.
• Couples. The household CET is the sum of both partners' individual CETs. It is possible for a couple to meet the joint CET while one partner still has individual conditionality, so both individual and joint thresholds matter.

How moving between regimes actually works

DWP recalculates earnings at the end of each monthly assessment period. Your earnings in that period decide your conditionality for the next period. A pay rise or a drop is applied with a one-period lag, so a single low-earning month after a run of good ones can push you back into intensive work search for the following month.

When your regime changes, your work coach will issue a new claimant commitment. You must accept it to keep your UC payment. If you disagree with something in it (for example a job-search hours figure that ignores a caring responsibility), you can ask for it to be reviewed. Don't refuse to accept outright — that will close your claim. Accept, then challenge specific clauses through the journal.

Worked examples

Example 1: Sarah, part-time shop worker, one child aged 4.

Sarah works 20 hours a week at £12.21/hour (the April 2025 National Living Wage for 25-year-olds). Her monthly earnings average £1,058. She is a lead carer of a 4-year-old.

• Her individual AET for 2025-26 is roughly £913 (18 hours × £12.21 × 52 ÷ 12). She earns above this, so she is out of intensive work search.
• Her tailored individual CET is 25 hours a week (scaled back from 35 because her child is 4 and in school), equivalent to about £1,322 a month. She earns below this, so she is in the light-touch regime.
• Her work coach can ask her to attend a work-focused interview every 8 weeks, but cannot require her to search for more hours or another job.

If Sarah loses a shift and her earnings drop below £913 for a month, she will move back into intensive work search for the following month. The threshold is applied mechanically on the earnings figure, not averaged across several months.

Example 2: Ali and Fatima, joint claim, both working.

Ali works 22 hours at £12.21 (£1,164 monthly). Fatima works 10 hours at £12.21 (£529 monthly). Joint earnings: £1,693 a month. No children.

• Joint AET for a couple is around £1,437. They exceed it jointly, so the household is out of intensive work search.
• Joint CET for two adults is about £2,645 (2 × 35 hours × NLW). They are below it, so the household sits in light-touch at the joint level.
• Individually, Ali meets his individual AET comfortably. Fatima's £529 is below her individual AET of about £913. She stays in intensive work search as an individual, even though the household is light-touch.

Fatima will have a claimant commitment requiring her to look for extra hours (up to her individual CET). If she takes more shifts and crosses her individual AET, the individual requirement drops away. If both partners cross their individual CETs, the household moves to working-enough with no earnings-based conditionality.

What each regime requires, step by step

Intensive work search

• Up to 35 hours a week of recorded job search (reduced if you have caring or health conditions).
• A specific number of applications per week — usually set in your claimant commitment. Don't agree to an unrealistic number.
• Work coach meetings every 1–2 weeks in most jobcentres.
• A duty to accept reasonable job offers within your travel-to-work area.
• Your work allowance and taper still apply, but the key point is the job-search activity.

Light-touch

• Work-focused interviews every 6–12 weeks.
• Keep earnings at or above the AET; a drop will move you back.
• You can be invited to opportunities (training, in-work progression conversations) but you cannot be required to search for a new job.
• Sanctions for missing a mandatory interview still apply but are less common in practice.

Working-enough

• No work-related requirements based on earnings.
• You still need to report any change of circumstances that affects UC eligibility.
• If your earnings drop, you will move back to light-touch or intensive work search depending on how far they fall.

In-work progression: the rule behind the pressure

DWP's policy since 2022 has been to use the AET/CET framework not only to decide conditionality but to push in-work progression — helping or pressing light-touch claimants to take more hours. Claimants in light-touch can be offered a 9-week "progression" programme, sometimes by phone, sometimes face-to-face. Participation in the progression offer is voluntary; work coaches cannot sanction a light-touch claimant purely for declining it. But refusing repeatedly can prompt a review of your commitment and a move back to closer monitoring.

Sanctions and the regimes

Sanctions apply in every regime except "no work-related requirements" and "working-enough". The most common sanction triggers are:

• Missing a mandatory work coach appointment without good reason.
• Failing to apply for a specified job.
• Refusing a reasonable job offer.
• Leaving a job voluntarily without good reason.

If you are sanctioned, you can ask for a Mandatory Reconsideration and, if that fails, appeal to the First-tier Tribunal. Good reason is a real defence and is worth raising: caring responsibilities, transport failure, a health flare, bereavement, or an appointment clash all count if documented.

Nation-specific notes

Universal Credit is a reserved benefit, so the AET, CET and the conditionality regimes apply in the same way in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The only meaningful differences are:

• In Northern Ireland UC is administered by the Department for Communities (DfC), which follows the same thresholds as DWP.
• The Social Security Scotland benefits (Scottish Child Payment, Adult Disability Payment) do not alter the UC conditionality regime. Adult Disability Payment does trigger an LCW/LCWRA-equivalent review through DWP in the same way PIP would.

What to do

1. Check your current claimant commitment in the UC journal. It states which regime you are in and the specific requirements.
2. Work out roughly where your monthly earnings sit relative to the AET and the CET. Use your last three months' payslips as a guide.
3. If your commitment says "intensive work search" but you are working enough hours to cross the AET, ask your work coach to review it in the next appointment.
4. If you have a health condition or caring responsibility that should reduce your expected hours, raise that on the journal before your next appointment. Attach evidence (a fit note, a social-care letter, a school pickup time).
5. If you are sanctioned or disagree with a condition, request Mandatory Reconsideration within one month of the decision letter. Our guide to challenging a benefits decision walks through the steps.

Primary sources

• GOV.UK — Administrative Earnings Threshold
• GOV.UK — Universal Credit work coach guidance
• Welfare Reform Act 2012, s.19 — Claimant commitments
• GOV.UK — Your claimant commitment

Last reviewed April 2026. The AET and CET are set in regulations and updated at least annually. If the figures on this page are more than a few months old, verify against the GOV.UK links above before acting. Due to You does not provide personalised financial advice; check with DWP or a local advice service for your individual circumstances.