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In England, depending on your circumstances, you may be able to get 15 or 30 hours of free childcare for your children aged nine months to four years old.

The amount of childcare you may get depends on:

  • Your child’s age
  • What your employment status is
  • Your income and, if you have a partner, their income too

The funded hours stop when your child starts primary school or reaches compulsory school age, if this is at a later date.

What are funded childcare hours?

Funded childcare hours are government-subsidised hours of childcare for parents of young children. They’re available to be used in registered childcare settings. The UK government provides these hours to support families by providing their children with early years education in a structured environment.

What circumstances do I need to meet to receive funded childcare hours?

To receive funded childcare hours, your child needs to be living at your address. Their ages determine how many hours they receive:

  • Nine months to two years old – you can get 15 hours per week of free childcare
  • Three to four years old – you can get 30 hours per week of free childcare

To qualify, you need to be working or starting a new job, on sick or annual leave, or on shared parental, maternity, paternity or adoption leave.

In your employment over the next three months, you and your partner (if you’re living together) must each expect to earn at least:

  • £2,380 before tax if you’re aged 21 or over (equivalent to £183 per week)
  • £1,788 before tax if you’re aged 18 to 20 (equivalent to £137 per week)
  • £1,331 before tax if you’re under 18 or an apprentice (equivalent to £102 per week)

You don’t qualify if your adjusted net income is over £100,000 a year. Adjusted net income is your total taxable income before any Personal Allowances and less certain tax reliefs such as, trading losses, donations to charities through Gift Aid and pension contributions.

If you’ve been self-employed for less than 12 months and you earn less, you may still qualify. Income that doesn’t count includes dividends, interest, income from property investments or pension payments.

How do funded childcare hours work?

After you apply, and once your child has reached the age required, you’ll receive the funded hours for the next term. It’s worth checking whether your childcare provider might be able to stretch the hours for up to 52 weeks. Whilst this means you’ll get less than the 15 or 30 hours per week, it means you won’t have months where your childcare bill is more expensive when the hours aren’t applied.

The funded hours can be used at nurseries, pre-schools, childminders, session providers and Sure Start Children’s Centres. You can use your hours across multiple settings and you can also still utilise Tax-Free Childcare.

The funded hours don’t cover meals or extras such as nappies, additional activities and suncream. These will be charged extra as a consumables charge -each setting will have different prices for these charges. Your provider should accept your funded childcare code even if you choose not to pay for meals and extras.

You apply via the Government website to receive your childcare code, which you need to give to your registered provider. When you have your account set up and the code is active, you need to reconfirm your eligibility every three months.

When do I need to apply for funded childcare hours?

For 15 hours of free childcare

You can apply from when your child is 23 weeks old.

Your child’s age When your hours start When to apply
1 September to 31 December Term starting on or after 1 January The term before 1 January
1 January to 31 March Term starting on or after 1 April The term before 1 April
1 April to 31 August Term starting on or after 1 September The term before 1 September

For 30 hours of free childcare

You can apply from when your child is 2 years and 36 weeks.

Your child’s 3rd birthday When your hours start When to apply
1 September to 31 December Term starting on or after 1 January The term before 1 January
1 January to 31 March Term starting on or after 1 April The term before 1 April
1 April to 31 August Term starting on or after 1 September The term before 1 September

It’s important to check with your childcare provider to find out the exact date your free childcare starts.

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