Parent Guide for 30 Hours of Free Childcare

At the time of writing in September 2024, children aged between 3 and 4 years old are entitled to 30 hours of free childcare.

Meanwhile, those with children aged between nine months and 2 years are able to access 15 hours of free childcare funded by the government.

The next phase of the free childcare hours rollout will take place in September 2025 and will see all eligible parents with children under 5 years able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week.

While this is expected to be used during term time, you may find that some childcare providers are willing to split these hours across 52 weeks per year to cover a more consistent childcare routine. This will need to be discussed and checked with your nursery or childcare provider directly.

While the rollout for 30 hours is still ongoing, the latest update which made 15 hours of childcare available to all those eligible families with children over 9 months has been welcomed across the UK.

The underlying aim of these childcare hours, funded by the government, is to facilitate and support parents in going back to work. As such, there are eligibility criteria and conditions that parents need to meet in order to be able to successfully apply for these funded hours of childcare.

·        Both parents / the sole parent must be working in order to redeem childcare hours

·        Parents must earn a minimum of the equivalent of 16 hours per week at the national living or minimum wage and less than £100,000 a year (per parent)

·        Parents who are self-employed or on a zero hours-contract must meet the same earnings threshold

At present, in the Autumn term of 2024, the difference in how much funding you are entitled to - whether it’s 15 hours or 30 hours - depends on the age of the child. This is changing in 2025 as outlined above, to make 30 hours of funding more accessible to a wider selection of families.

While the application process is simple, it needs to be completed at the right time to ensure that you receive everything that both you and your childcare providers needs to unlock the funded hours.

HMRC recommends applying at least six weeks before the start date of the term in which you hope to receive funded hours, to ensure that your application has time to be processed and verified.

To apply, you will need access to your National Insurance number, your child’s birth certificate reference number, the date you returned to work, and your Unique Taxpayers Reference number if you are self-employed. All of this information is then entered on the childcare application portal which you can find online via the government website.

A successful application will generate a code, which needs to be passed on to your childcare provider so that they can redeem the funding from the government accordingly.

Parents need to remember to reapply for a new childcare funding code every three months as part of the continued confirmation of eligibility and to ensure that the funding is always used fairly and accurately.

Prior to applying for the funded hours code, it is advised that you contact your local or chosen childcare provider to ensure that they

a)      Have space for your child

b)     Can offer them a space using funded childcare hours

Following this, it’s important to complete the application process with plenty of time before your child’s enrolment term.

For more advice and to make sure that you don’t miss out on future updates as the 30 hours of funded childcare become more widely available, look out for our upcoming blogs and articles.