England – Free childcare for children aged 9-months to 4-years old

If you are working you may be entitled to 30 hours of free childcare during term time (38 weeks a year) if your child is aged between 9-months and 4-years old.

Some childcare providers may allow you to stretch your entitlement so that you receive fewer hours over more weeks. It is up to your provider whether they will allow you to do this so you will need to check with them. However, in any case, your maximum free entitlement is 1,140 hours per year.

The childcare must be ‘approved childcare’ which means that it is provided by a registered provider such as a nursery, childminder, playscheme or school.

Eligibility

To be eligible for 30 hours free childcare you and your partner must each meet the work and earnings requirements unless an exception applies. Your partner means someone you are married to, in a civil partnership with or live with as a couple.

What are the work and earnings requirements?

To meet the work and earnings requirements if you are claiming as a single parent you must:

• Work and earn, or expect to earn over the next 3 months, at least the equivalent of working 16 hours per week at National Minimum or National Living Wage (depending on your age); and
• Not have an adjusted net income exceeding £100,000 for the tax year

If you are claiming as a couple:

• You must both work and earn, or expect to earn over the next 3 months, at least the equivalent of working 16 hours per week at National Minimum or National Living Wage (depending on your age) unless an exception applies; and
• Neither of you must have an individual adjusted net income exceeding £100,000 for the tax year

If you are self-employed and have irregular earnings, you can average your earnings out over the tax year.

If you are ‘newly self-employed’ you will get a start-up period where you do not have to meet the minimum earnings requirement for the first 12 months of your claim. Being ‘newly self-employed’ means that you began your current self-employment within the past 12 months, and you have not commenced any other self-employment (including in a different profession or field of work) within the 5 years immediately prior to your current self-employment.

What are the exceptions?

In certain specified circumstances you do not have to meet the work and earnings requirements.

These are:

• During periods of ‘specified leave’, which means maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption, parental, parental bereavement or carer’s leave; or
• If you are in receipt of statutory pay for any of the above (e.g. Statutory Maternity Pay), or Maternity Allowance or Statutory Sick Pay

Self-employed parents who are not legally entitled to the above leave or pay, but would be if they were employed are also exempt from meeting the minimum earnings requirement.

It is important to note that if you are on maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption or parental leave for a child, you are not eligible for the free childcare until you return to work. The exception is for any other children you have. For example, if you are on maternity leave with a new baby, and also have a 3-year-old, the exception allows you continue to receive free hours for your 3-year-old.

Exceptions for couple’s where one partner is unable to work due to ill health, disability or caring for a disabled person

If you are claiming as a couple, provided your partner meets the work and earnings requirements, or is exempt due to one of the above conditions, you, as the partner, do not have to meet the work and earnings requirements if any of the following apply:

• You have limited capability for work (assessed by the DWP)
• You have limited capability for work and work-related activity (assessed by the DWP)
• You are entitled to a ‘specified benefit’
• You are a resident of an EEA state or Switzerland and are in receipt of a benefit from that state which is substantially similar to a ‘specified benefit’

The ‘specified benefits’ are:

• Universal Credit that includes a carer element
• Carer’s Allowance
• Carer’s Assistance
• Credits for incapacity for work or limited capability for work under any of the following:
  1. the Social Security (Credits) Regulations 1975
  2. the Social Security (Credits) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1975
  3. Employment and Support Allowance
  4. Incapacity Benefit
  5. long-term Incapacity Benefit
• Severe Disablement Allowance

When to apply

You must apply before the start of the term in which your child reaches 9-months old or before the term in which you wish the childcare to begin if your child is older. The earliest you can apply is from when your child is 23 weeks old. The free childcare will not begin until the term after you apply. The term start dates are 1st September, 1st January and 1st April each year.

For example, to qualify for free childcare for the September term, your child must be 9-months old on or before 31st August.

The deadline to apply is always the last day of the month before the term begins. For example, the deadline to apply for the September term is 31st August.

It is recommended that you apply well in advance of the deadline. This is because HMRC (who administer the scheme) need to verify the details of your claim and check your eligibility. Once they have done this they will issue you with a code which you must give to your childcare provider. Your childcare provider may require the code a few weeks in advance of the term start date in order to secure your free childcare place.

The following table shows when you can apply:

When your child turns 9-months-old	When they can get their hours from	Deadline to apply
1 September to 31 December	Term starting on or after 1 January	31 December
1 January to 31 March	Term starting on or after 1 April	31 March
1 April to 31 August	Term starting on or after 1 September	31 August

When to apply if you’re returning from maternity or other statutory family leave

When you can apply depends on the date you’re returning to work – this is the date your maternity or other statutory family leave ends. If you’re on shared parental leave for the child you’re applying for, both parents must have returned to work to be eligible for the free childcare.

If you take paid annual leave at the end of your maternity or other statutory family leave, you’re counted as being back at work during your annual leave period.

The following table shows when to apply if you’re returning to work from maternity or other statutory family leave:

Date you return to work	When you can get your hours from (assuming your child is 9-months-old before the term start date)	When to apply
1 October to 31 January	Term starting on or after 1 January	Between 1 September and 31 December
1 February to 30 April	Term starting on or after 1 April	Between 1 January and 31 March
1 May to 30 September	Term starting on or after 1 September	Between 1 April and 31 August

How to apply

To apply you will need to open up a childcare account online. You will need your National Insurance number. If you’re self-employed, you’ll also need your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR). You’ll also need your child’s birth certificate reference number (if you have one) and the date you started or are due to start work (this can be approximate if you started more than 3 months ago).

Click here to go to the childcare application portal to apply for the free childcare.

If you need help to apply or have any questions about the application process we recommend that you contact the Childcare Service Helpline on 0300 123 4097. Working Families cannot advise you on any issues you may be experiencing with your application.

Reconfirmation

You need to reconfirm your eligibility every 3 months. If you apply more than 3 months before the term starts you will need to reconfirm your eligibility in order to keep your code valid.

HMRC will send you a reminder up to 28 days before the end of your current 3-month entitlement period. It is important that you reconfirm in time in order to retain your entitlement to the free childcare.

If you do not reconfirm in time you will fall out of eligibility. You will need to reapply but will only become eligible again from the start of the term after you reapply.

For example, if you have to reconfirm your eligibility by 25 March but miss the deadline you will fall out of eligibility on 25 March. If you reapply by 31 March, you should be eligible again for the April term. However, if you do not reapply until 1 April or after, you will not become eligible again until the September term. However, when you fall out of eligibility you will get a grace period where your free childcare will continue for a limited amount of time.

Grace periods

When you fall out of eligibility you enter into a grace period where your free childcare continues for a short period. The exact date your grace period ends depends on the date you fall out of eligibility for the scheme.

The following table shows the date your grace period ends depending on the date you fall out of eligibility.

Date you fall out of eligibility	Date grace period ends
1 Jan to 10 Feb	31 March
11 Feb to 31 March	31 August
1 April to 26 May	31 August
27 May to 31 August	31 December
1 Sept to 21 Oct	31 December
22 Oct to 31 Dec	31 March

So, for example, if you fall out of eligibility on 18 February, you will enter into a grace period until 31 August. You will need to reapply for the free childcare to continue getting it from September.

Continuing with the above example, if you reapply by 31 March (assuming you’re now eligible again) your grace period would end on 31 March because you would enter into a new period of eligibility on 1 April. However, if you reapply any time between 1 April and 31 August you would be in a grace period until 31 August and then enter into a new period of eligibility on 1 September.

Speak to your childcare provider or contact the Childcare Service helpline for more information about grace periods.

If you are not eligible for 30 hours of free childcare for working parents, you should be eligible for 15 hours free instead if you have a child aged between 3 and 4-years-old.

This scheme is universal and open to all 3 and 4-year olds. There are no earnings or work requirements and you don’t need to be claiming any benefits to get the free childcare.

You should be able to start receiving the childcare from 1 January, 1 April or 1 September following your child’s 3rd birthday.

How do I apply?

Contact your childcare provider or local council if you need further guidance on how to apply for the free childcare.

This free childcare scheme is available to families on certain low income benefits or who have a child with additional needs. In order to be eligible for the free childcare for your 2-year-old, you must either be in receipt of a qualifying benefit or your child must fit into one of the categories of children who have additional needs.

The qualifying benefits are:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Universal Credit – if you and your partner are on a low income from work (this usually means a combined income no more than £15,400 a year after tax)
• the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• support through part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act

Note: If you do not qualify for the benefits above because you are subject to immigration control, you may still qualify for 15 hours free childcare. You must still be on a low income (see FAQ below).

Even if you are not receiving a qualifying benefit your 2-year-old can still get free childcare if any of the following apply:

• they’re looked after by a local council
• they have a current statement of special education needs (SEN) or an education, health and care (EHC) plan
• they get Disability Living Allowance
• they’ve left care under a special guardianship order, child arrangements order or adoption order
• you can’t claim benefits because of your asylum seeker status or a no recourse to public funds condition. This only applies in specific circumstances – see FAQ below.

How do I apply?

Contact your childcare provider or local council to find out how to apply or if you need further guidance.

Government funded early education and childcare is not a ‘public fund’ for immigration purposes, so can be accessed by a child regardless of their immigration status. However, some schemes have eligibility requirements relating to the immigration status of the parent(s) and so may not be available to all families. 

For more information on eligibility for any of the free childcare schemes if you are subject to immigration control see the No Recourse to Public Funds Network website.

30 hours for children aged 9-months to 4-years olds (working parents)

You may not be able to apply for 30 hours free childcare for children aged 9-months to 4-years old. The parent who applies for 30 free hours will need to meet a residence requirement. In order to meet the requirement, the parent applying must have one of the following:

• British or Irish citizenship
• Settled or pre-settled status granted under the EU Settlement Scheme
• A pending EU Settlement Scheme application
• Immigration permission that allows access to public funds, such as indefinite leave to remain or refugee leave

A parent who has NRPF will not meet the residence requirement. In two-parent households, at least one parent on the application will need to meet the residence requirement. If a single parent or both parents in a household have NRPF, the family will be unable to access 30 hours childcare.

15 hours for 3 and 4-year olds (universal entitlement)

If you are not allowed to receive public funds due to your immigration status, you can still use 15 hours free childcare for 3 and 4-year-olds.

15 hours per week of free childcare is universal for all children aged 3 to 4 years old. Children can benefit regardless of their, or their parent’s, immigration status. 

Contact your childcare provider or local council if you need further guidance.

15 hours for 2-year-olds (extra support)

If you are on a visa with no recourse to public funds (NRPF), you are likely to be restricted from receiving a qualifying benefit because most of them are considered ‘public funds’.

Parents with certain types of NRPF visas can access 15 hours free childcare for their 2-year-old child. To be eligible, you must have one of the following types of immigration statuses:

1. Zambrano carer (derivative right to reside in the UK under European law as the primary carer of a British child or dependent adult).
2. Leave to remain with NRPF granted on family or private life (Article 8) grounds.
3. You have claimed asylum in the UK, you are waiting for a decision and you are getting support from the Home Office (‘Part 6’ support).
4. ‘Appeal rights exhausted’ (ARE) asylum seeker receiving asylum support from the Home Office under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

If you meet conditions 1 or 2 above, you must also be on a low income to qualify. The income thresholds are set out on gov.uk.

You can also apply if your child if your child:

• is looked after by a local council
• has a current statement of special education needs (SEN) or an education, health and care (EHC) plan
• gets Disability Living Allowance
• has left care under a special guardianship order, child arrangements order or adoption order

All free childcare schemes stop when your child reaches compulsory school age and starts in reception class (not when they turn 5).

A child is required to start reception on the 31 March, 31 August or 31 December after their 5th birthday. This will be the same day that they stop being eligible for free hours.

Contact your childcare provider or local council if you need further guidance.

No, you can apply before your new job starts, assuming that you’ll be earning at least the equivalent of working 16 hours a week at National Minimum or National Living Wage (depending on your age) in the job.

The date you’ll be eligible depends on the date you will be starting your new job. You can apply from when your child is 23 weeks old.

The below table tells you when you can apply:

Date you start work	When you can get your hours from (assuming your child is 9-months-old before the term start date)	When to apply
1 October to 31 January	Term starting on or after 1 January	Between 1 September and 31 December
1 February to 30 April	Term starting on or after 1 April	Between 1 January and 31 March
1 May to 30 September	Term starting on or after 1 September	Between 1 April and 31 August

To receive 30 hours free childcare you will need to apply online through gov.uk. After registering for an account, you will get a code that you can take to your childcare provider. You need to apply before the term starts or you will have wait until the beginning of the next term. There is a government helpline if you need help with this.

Each childcare provider has a different approach to the government scheme, and how the free hours are used are typically down to your agreement with them. If you have an issue, you should speak to your childcare provider or your local council.

The 30 hours entitlement is actually 1,140 hours per year which is usually taken as 30 hours per week over 38 weeks of the year (term time). With the agreement of your childcare provider, it can be taken over 38 weeks or stretched to cover more weeks depending on what your childcare provider offers. If you stretch the entitlement, you could, for example, receive around 23 free hours per week over 48 weeks.

The statutory guidance sets out that the following standards should apply:

• Sessions must not be longer than 10 hours
• There is no minimum session length (subject to Ofsted Early Years Registration requirements)
• Sessions should not take place before 6am or after 8pm
• Sessions can be delivered over a maximum of 2 sites in a single day

Some childcare providers are flexible in their approach, and others require you to use the free hours in a particular way (e.g. in a set number of full days or half days). This is typically down to your agreement with them.

You are entitled to use any of the free childcare schemes while claiming Universal Credit.

If you are getting free childcare but need to pay for additional childcare to enable you to work, you can get help with the extra costs through universal credit.