Research and analysis

WorkWell Pilot Management Information from 1 October 2024 to 30 November 2025

Published 20 January 2026

Applies to England

1. Main stories

• There were approximately 25,000 working age people with health conditions starting a WorkWell intervention between October 2024 (when the programme began) and the end of November 2025 (the latest month where data was available). 

• Of those who started the program, 41% were in work, and 59% were out of work at their first appointment. 

• The main referral route for WorkWell was a GP or Primary Care setting, which accounts for 28% of all starts. 

• Almost half (48%) of all starts listed a mental health related condition as their primary barrier to work.  

• Mental health conditions were also the most prevalent condition across all age groups of those who started in WorkWell.  

• Over two thirds (68%) were aged 35 and over. 

• 56% were female, and 43% were male.

2. Background

WorkWell is an integrated early-intervention work and health support offer, providing light touch, holistic services to overcome health-related barriers to employment, and a single, joined-up gateway to other support services. It is designed and delivered locally through 15 of the 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) throughout England. The 15 ICBs that WorkWell currently operates in can be found in Annex A. 

WorkWell started delivery from October 2024. Although sites had a staggered start, with some starting later in 2024 and early in 2025.

This publication provides information for the first time on those who have started a WorkWell intervention in 14 out of the 15 sites, excluding NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board.

The data covered the period from when the program in October 2024 until the end of November 2025. NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board is excluded as there is no available data from this site as of yet. 

This release is the first statistical release of Management Information and so only covers information on those who started a WorkWell Plan. There is no information on outcomes within this publication.

3. WorkWell Pilot Management Information

Table 1: Number of starts in WorkWell by month

Date	Starts in WorkWell
Total	24,560
October 2024	330
November 2024	710
December 2024	660
January 2025	1,220
February 2025	1,460
March 2025	1,810
April 2025	1,810
May 2025	1,920
June 2025	2,320
July 2025	2,690
August 2025	2,190
September 2025	2,450
October 2025	2,710
November 2025	2,250

Source: DWP Management Information on WorkWell, correct as of 5 January 2026.

Figure 1: Number of starts in WorkWell by month

Source: DWP Management Information on WorkWell, correct as of 5 January 2026.

Figure 1 is a line chart showing the trend in the volumes of starts in WorkWell over time. An upward trend is seen, starting at 330 in October 2024, with monthly starts peaking at 2,700 in July 2025 and finishing at 2,300 at the most recently available data point in November 2025.

Table 1 shows that as the WorkWell Pilot has established, sites have been able to start more participants on a plan each month. There were 330 starts in WorkWell in October 2024, the month WorkWell started delivery in some sites, and there were 2,300 starts in WorkWell in November 2025, the latest month for which data is available. This means that on average there are 148 more starts each month compared to the previous month. In total, there has been approximately 25,000 starts in WorkWell. 

Of these, 41% of WorkWell participants are in work, whereas 59% are out of work at their first appointment. ‘Out of work’ includes those who are unemployed and economically inactive, and is self-reported via the Management Information collection.

Table 2: Proportion of WorkWell starts by referral route

Referral route	Proportion of starts
GP or primary care	28%
Self-referral	27%
Jobcentre Plus	24%
Voluntary or community sector	10%
Local health services	6%
Local Authority	4%
Employer	1%

Source: DWP Management Information on WorkWell, correct as of 5 January 2026.

Table 2 shows the proportion of WorkWell starts that are referred by different routes. The largest referral route into WorkWell is from a GP or primary care setting, which accounts for 28% of all starts. 1% of all starts are referred by an employer. However, employers have been known to signpost employees who self-refer onto WorkWell.  

Note: this data is based on the participant referral route listed in the Management Information. Self-referrals may have been advised to apply via one of the other options. Those listed as being referred through Jobcentre Plus may have been signposted at Jobcentre Plus.

Table 3: Proportion of WorkWell starts by Primary Health Barrier to Work

Health Barrier	Proportion of Starts
Mental health problems	48%
Musculoskeletal problems	21%
Autism	4%
Heart, blood pressure, blood circulation problems	3%
Severe or specific learning difficulties	2%
Other	22%

Source: DWP Management Information on WorkWell, correct as of 5 January 2026. 

Table 3 shows the proportion of WorkWell starts by participants self-reported primary health related barriers to work. Almost half (48%) of all WorkWell starts have listed a mental health condition as their main health barrier to work.  

A full list of health conditions that are listed under ‘Other’ can be found within Annex B.

Table 4: Proportion of WorkWell starts by age group

Age group	Proportion of starts
16 to 24	11%
25 to 34	21%
35 to 49	35%
50 to 66	33%
67 and over	1%

Source: DWP Management Information on WorkWell, correct as of 5 January 2026. 

Table 4 shows the proportion of WorkWell starts by age group. Over two thirds (68%) of WorkWell participants are aged 35 and over, with the most common age group being those aged between 35 and 49 years old. 11% of all WorkWell starts are in the youngest age group, with ages between 16 and 24 years old.

Table 5: Proportion of WorkWell starts by Sex

Sex	Proportion of starts
Female	56%
Male	43%
Missing data	2%

Source: DWP Management Information on WorkWell, correct as of 5 January 2026. 

Table 5 shows the proportion of WorkWell starts by sex. The majority (56%) of all WorkWell starts have their sex listed as female.

4. About these statistics

Notes about the data

The data used is based on Management Information (MI) that is received from the integrated care boards that are delivering a WorkWell service. This data has been collected monthly since October 2024, although not all sites started live delivery on this date and as such data has developed over time.  

Data on referrals is incomplete due to local differences in the capture of this data. For example, some sites cannot collect and provide information on participants who have been referred and do not start due to the legal basis they utilised to collect and share data with the Department. Due to this, data on referrals (those who were referred but did not start on the service) are not included in this publication.  

The figures are subject to retrospection, meaning changes can occur as DWP receives updated information, particularly in the most recent month. 

This MI is an important part of the WorkWell Pilot’s plans to evaluate the service being delivered, providing quantitative data. The contents will remain under review and will be further developed when appropriate to do so. We would welcome feedback to inform our plans for future releases.

Definitions and terminology within the statistics

Mental health problems 

This is a group of conditions including:

• depression
• bad nerves and anxiety
• manic depression
• schizophrenia 
• other mental health problems

Musculoskeletal problems 

This is a group of conditions including:

• back pain
• neck and upper limb problems
• other musculoskeletal problems

In work 

People of working age who either:

• did paid work in the reference week (as an employee or self-employed)
• had a job that they were temporarily away from
• were placed with employers on government-supported training and employment programmes
• did unpaid family work

Out of work 

This refers to people who do not meet the definition of ‘in employment’ above. In other words, they are either unemployed or economically inactive (International Labour Organization definition).

Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics

The Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code) is built around three main concepts or pillars: 

• trustworthiness – is about having confidence in the people and organisations that publish statistics 

• quality – is about using data and methods that produce assured statistics 

• value – is about publishing statistics that support society’s needs for information 

The following explains how we have applied the pillars of the Code in a proportionate way.

Trustworthiness 

This Management Information has been collected monthly since the WorkWell Pilot began. This is being published now to give equal access to all those with an interest in the information. 

Quality 

This publication draws on internal Management Information used directly within the WorkWell Pilot and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standards. However, engagement has taken place with data owners to ensure this data is fit-for-purpose and of sufficient quality for publication. Multiple rounds of quality assurance have been applied to ensure the data is as accurate and reliable as possible. 

Value 

Releasing this information serves the public interest by providing granularity of the number of starts in WorkWell, and the proportion of these by health condition, referral route, employment status, age group and sex. Making this information accessible provides ministers and stakeholders with an overview of the WorkWell Pilot, while helping to reduce the administrative burden of answering Parliamentary Questions, Freedom of Information requests and ad hoc queries.

Rounding Policy 

Data in the release has been rounded as per Table 6.

Table 6: Rounding policy

From	To	Rounded to nearest
0	1,000	10
1,001	10,000	100
10,001	100,000	1,000

All changes and totals are calculated prior to rounding. Percentage changes are calculated prior to rounding and then are rounded to the nearest whole number. As all figures within this statistical summary have been rounded, they may not add up.

Contact information and feedback

Authors: Rob Sankey

Lead Analyst: Simon Marlow 

For more information on WorkWell Evaluation, contact the team at: workwell.evaluationteam@dwp.gov.uk 

For press enquiries, contact the DWP Press Office: 020 3267 5144

5. Annex A

Integrated care boards (ICBs) that are part of the WorkWell Pilot:

• NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board
• NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board
• NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board
• NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board
• NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board
• NHS Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board
• NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board
• NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board
• NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board
• NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board
• NHS North Central London Integrated Care Board
• NHS North West London Integrated Care Board
• NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board
• NHS Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board
• NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board*

* To note: This publication does not contain information on those that have started a WorkWell intervention from NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board.

6. Annex B

Health conditions that are grouped into ‘Other’ in Table 3:

• cancers
• chest or breathing problems, asthma, bronchitis
• diabetes
• difficulty in hearing
• epilepsy
• health condition not listed elsewhere
• severe disfigurement, skin condition, allergies
• speech impediment
• stomach, liver, kidney or digestive problems