Government Funded Childcare

Current Childcare Support:

15-30 Hours Free Childcare

  • Available for all families with 3 and 4-year-old children.
  • Additional 15 hours available for eligible working families, making it up to 30 hrs free childcare [1][2]
  • Some eligible parents of 2-year-olds may also be entitled to 15 hrs of support.
  • Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit for Childcare can be used with the 15 or 30 hrs support.

Upcoming Changes to Childcare Support:

  • From April 2024, working parents of 2-year-olds will have access to 15 hrs.
  • From September 2024, working parents of children 9 months to 3-years-old will also get 15 hrs.
  • By September 2025, most working families with children under 5 will be entitled to 30 hrs funded.

For comprehensive details please visit [3]:

Term time or Stretched funded sessions

  • Funded hours can be used weekly for 38 weeks of the year or spread over 51 weeks:
    • 15 or 30 hours per week for a total of 38 weeks a year (term time) OR
    • 1 or 22.3 hours per week for a total 51 weeks

Tax free childcare

  • The majority of working families should also be eligible for tax free childcare scheme (together with funded hours above), details can be found here [4]
  • You can get up to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of your children to help with the costs of childcare

Your funded sessions might not cover full sessions or days

  • The Government funding does not fully cover childcare costs, therefore top up fees may be necessary depending on the chosen sessions.

You will need to contact HMRC to apply for funded childcare.

The nursery will need to validate your details. Please email us your (the parent’s):

  • The funding code (30h or 15h)
  • Date of birth
  • National Insurance number
  • Contact Email
  • Your contact number