From 1st April 2026 Income Support and Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance are to be abolished by the Department for Work and Pension (DWP). Patients will be able to continue to claim exemption from prescription charges on these grounds until the end of 14th April 2026. After 14th April 2026, these legacy benefits will no longer provide a valid basis for entitlement to exemption from NHS prescription charges.
Prescriptions dispensed on or before the 14th April 2026 with these exemption reasons can still be claimed for after 15th April 2026.
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance remains a valid exemption category and patients in receipt of this benefit should continue to select Box H on the reverse of prescription forms and/or EPS tokens.
FP10 prescription forms, EPS tokens and pharmacy PMR systems will be updated in due course to reflect the changes.
People who are in receipt of Income Support or Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance may qualify for Universal Credit. However, Universal Credit is not an automatic entitlement to free NHS prescriptions. and patients must meet the Universal Credit criteria for help with health costs based on their last complete assessment period, or qualify under another valid exemption category.
Real Time Exemption Checking (RTEC) can be used to check whether a patient has a valid exemption before dispensing their prescription. If an exemption is confirmed by RTEC, patients will not need to provide proof of entitlement to free prescriptions or make a declaration on the reverse of the EPS token.
Patients can also be directed to the NHSBSA eligibility checker to check if they are entitled to free NHS prescriptions. If a patient is unsure whether they are entitled to free NHS prescriptions, the patient should pay for their prescription and be provided with an FP57 receipt and refund form at the point of payment.
CPE have produced a useful factsheet for guidance on the different exemption categories.