Funded childcare hours in England

Working parents in England can get 30 hours a week of funded childcare for 38 weeks a year, from the term after their child turns 9 months until they start school. Each parent must expect to earn at least £2,643.68 over the next three months, and neither can have adjusted net income above £100,000. Every 3 and 4-year-old also gets 570 hours a year whatever their parents do, and some 2-year-olds in families on certain support get 15 hours a week.

The three entitlements

The scheme was built up in stages, which is why the rules look patchy. A child can move from one entitlement to the next as they get older.

Entitlement	Age	Hours	Depends on work?
Working parent hours	9 months to school age	30 a week, 38 weeks a year	Yes
Universal hours	3 and 4-year-olds	570 a year (15 a week over 38 weeks)	No
Disadvantaged 2-year-olds	2-year-olds	15 a week	Depends on benefits or other criteria

For a 3 or 4-year-old with working parents, the universal 15 hours and the working parent hours together make up the 30 hours. Over 38 weeks, 30 hours a week comes to 1,140 hours a year.

Many providers let you stretch the hours across more weeks of the year, at fewer hours a week. Parents in year-round jobs such as nursing, who need cover in the school holidays too, often prefer this. Whether it is available depends on the provider.

The earnings test

Each parent in the household must expect to earn, over the next three months, at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage for their age. At the 21 and over rate of £12.71 an hour, that is £2,643.68 a quarter. Younger parents and apprentices have lower thresholds because their minimum wage rates are lower.

Almost anyone in a contracted public sector job clears it. A part-time teaching assistant or a band 2 healthcare assistant working a few days a week will pass. The people it catches have very few or irregular hours: a parent who only does occasional bank shifts, a supply teacher between bookings, someone on a zero-hours contract.

What counts is what you expect to earn in the coming three months, whatever you earned last quarter. If your work is seasonal or patchy, you can use your average over the year in some cases. Self-employed parents who have only recently started trading may not need to meet the minimum. A parent who is not working because of a disability or caring responsibility, while the other works, may still qualify.

The £100,000 limit

If either parent has adjusted net income over £100,000 in the tax year, the family loses the working parent hours. The universal 15 hours for 3 and 4-year-olds stay. The same limit applies to Tax-Free Childcare.

Adjusted net income is roughly your taxable income minus certain pension contributions and Gift Aid. In the NHS Pension Scheme, Teachers’ Pension Scheme, LGPS and Civil Service schemes, your contributions come off your pay before tax, which brings the figure down. Salary sacrifice does the same. A consultant, senior manager or headteacher earning just over £100,000 can find their adjusted net income is below it once pension contributions are taken off. The guide to pension tax relief explains how net pay arrangements work, and the £100,000 tax trap covers what else changes at that level. For your own figures, ask HMRC or a qualified adviser.

Applying and keeping the code

You apply online through the Childcare Service on gov.uk, the same account used for Tax-Free Childcare. If you are eligible, you get a code to give your provider along with your National Insurance number and your child’s date of birth.

The hours start from the term after you get the code. You need the code before the term starts, and in practice before the provider’s own deadline, which is usually earlier. Applying in the term before is sensible.

The code has to be reconfirmed regularly. The service sends reminders by email, and if you miss the deadline you go into a grace period, after which the funding stops. A change of job, a drop in hours or a new partner all need updating in the account.

How the hours fit with shift work

You can use funded hours at nurseries, pre-schools, childminders and some school nurseries, as long as they are registered and signed up with the council to deliver the funding. Childminders are often the most useful option for NHS and emergency services staff, since they can be more flexible about early starts and weekend days.

Splitting the hours between two providers is usually allowed, for example a nursery on weekdays and a childminder for early starts. Each provider claims its share from the council.

Funded hours do not cover nights or very long days. A twelve-hour shift worker can use up a 30-hour weekly entitlement in two and a half days. Tax-Free Childcare can help pay for the rest. The guide to childcare help for public sector workers covers workplace nurseries and leave rights.

Outside England

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each run their own funded childcare, with different ages, hours and eligibility rules, and none of the figures above apply there. Tax-Free Childcare works across the whole UK. If you live in one nation and work in another, the rules of the nation where your child gets childcare apply, so check with that council.