Seven days, two columns: what help the days needed, and what help the nights needed. A week of honest notes turns 'I struggle sometimes' into the numbers the form asks for.
How to use it. Fill it in at the end of each day and each morning after. Short and true beats long and vague: "needed steadying on stairs twice", "up 3 times to the toilet, 15 minutes each", "daughter reminded me about tablets". Note help you NEEDED even when nobody was there to give it - that counts. After a week, the diary answers the form's own questions: how often each day, how many times a night, how long each time, and how many days and nights a week.
Unlock the printable diary - free
Pop your email in and the print button unlocks. We will send you occasional short, useful notes about claiming Attendance Allowance - no spam, and you can reply "unsubscribe" at any time.
Please enter a valid email address.
Your email is used as described in our privacy policy. The diary itself asks for no personal details.
Your diary is ready
Print it, or choose "Save as PDF" in the print window. Stick it on the fridge - the fridge is where diaries survive.
Day & date
DAY - help, supervision or prompting needed
Washing, dressing, toilet, eating, medicines, stairs, falls, being kept safe, being reminded or encouraged. Who helped, or what happened with no one there?
NIGHT - after the household settled
Times up and why (toilet, turning, settling, medicines), roughly how many minutes each time, anyone needing to be awake to watch over you.
Day 1 ___/___
Day 2 ___/___
Day 3 ___/___
Day 4 ___/___
Day 5 ___/___
Day 6 ___/___
Day 7 ___/___
End of the week - three totals for the form
1) On how many of the 7 days did you need help, supervision or prompting? 2) On how many nights? 3) The night pattern in one line, e.g. "up 2-3 times most nights, 10-20 minutes each".
attendanceexpert.co.uk · Guidance only, not legal or medical advice · Not affiliated with the DWP, the Department for Communities or Social Security Scotland · Karol Slusarczyk t/a Benefits Expert · ICO:00014179042
Why a week of notes wins claims
The AA1 asks for numbers memory cannot honestly supply: how often each day (questions 29 to 37), how many falls in the last month and year (question 34), how many days a week (question 38), times per night and minutes each time (question 42), nights per week (question 43). A diary answers all of them with dates attached - and evidence with dates reads completely differently from adjectives. It also protects you at both ends of the claim: filled in before the form, it stops the "I manage" reflex underselling you; kept afterwards, it is ready-made material for any reconsideration or future review.
If nights are part of your picture, be precise there above all - the night column exists because the higher rate turns on nights, in exactly the units this diary captures. And if what the week reveals is supervision - the falls, the "how long can you be safely left" question - read falls and supervision before you transfer anything onto the form.
Want the form written for you?
Answer simple questions about the help needed by day and by night, and we write every care answer, ready to copy onto the form.