Funded childcare for working families

The current offer

Extended hours for 3- and 4-year olds (30 hours childcare)

In England, all 3- and 4-year olds are entitled to 15 funded hours a week of EYE childcare.

Working families with 3- and 4-year old children, who meet the eligibility criteria, are able to apply for an additional 570 hours of funded early years education/childcare - called extended hours. These extended hours are on top of the universal entitlement, available to all children that age, providing eligible 3- and 4-year olds with a total of up to 1140 funded childcare hours a year.

These hours may be taken over 38 weeks, or ‘stretched’ over more weeks to help cover some school holiday periods. For example:

• 38 weeks provides 30 funded hours of childcare a week
• 51 weeks provides just over 22 funded hours a week

The Childcare Service and the Childcare Calculator

The Childcare Service is the joint Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) and 30 Hours service through which parents can:

• apply and (re)confirm their eligibility for the free additional 570 hours (’30 Hours’) and TFC
• have a childcare account to make payments to childcare providers for TFC
• get their 30 Hours free childcare eligibility code (unique code for each child)

The Childcare Calculator is a useful tool which provides information to parents about the types of childcare funding support available. This is the first place to go before making any applications for childcare funding.

To apply for the additional 570 hours of free early years education/childcare (’30 Hours Childcare’) go to the Government’s Childcare Choices online childcare service.

Parents can only make applications for the additional hours directly to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) through the online service. For assistance with the online application contact the helpline on 0300 123 4097.

Once an application is made HMRC will notify parents of the need to reconfirm their working status every 3 months so that they remain eligible to have the free additional 570 hours ('30 Hours') and TFC.

Phase 1: Expanded hours childcare for 2-year-olds

In the past EYE funding has been available for 2-year olds who meet the criteria for disadvantaged 2-year old funded childcare hours. These are families who receive some additional forms of government support. If this is the funding you think you are eligible for see Early Years Education (EYE) funding for eligible 2-year olds for more details.

From 1 April 2024, eligible working families with 2-year old children, will be entitled to up to 570 hours of funded childcare per year called expanded hours.

In some cases, families may be eligible for both the Disadvantaged 2-year old funding and the expanded hours funding, but you may only take up one of the entitlements. In this scenario, you are encouraged to use the Disadvantaged 2-year old funding, which does not expire if your circumstances change.

Either type of 2-year old funding can be taken over 38 weeks, or ‘stretched’ over more weeks to help cover some school holiday periods. For example:

• 38 weeks provides 15 funded hours of childcare a week
• 51 weeks provides just over 11 funded hours a week

Phase 2: Expanded hours childcare for children over 9 months

From 1 September 2024, the funded childcare offer for eligible working families will be expanded to include parents of children over 9 months.

Phase 3: Increasing the expanded offer

From September 2025, the 570 expanded hours will be increased to provide up to 1140 hours of funded childcare for younger aged children (from 9 months to 2 years), to match the current entitlement for 3- and 4-year olds of eligible working families.

Full details of all these offers and how many hours of childcare you may be entitled to, can be found on the Childcare Choices: Upcoming changes to childcare support webpage.

Apply for the additional 570 hours of free early years education/childcare

To apply for the additional 570 hours of free early years education/childcare go to the Government’s online childcare service

The childcare service is the joint Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) and 30 Hours service through which parents can:

• apply and (re)confirm their eligibility for the free additional 570 hours (‘30 Hours’) and TFC
• have a childcare account to make payments to childcare providers for TFC
• get their 30 Hours free childcare eligibility code (unique code for each child)

Parents will make applications directly to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). HMRC will notify parents of the need to reconfirm their working status every 3 months so that they remain eligible to have the free additional 570 hours ('30 Hours') and TFC.

HMRC will provide a review and appeal process for parents who are unsuccessful in their application for the entitlement.

If you require further details about an individual service you can find them on the Family Information Directory.

How to apply for working families childcare hours

You can only make applications for the Working Families childcare directly to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) through their online service.

For assistance with the online application contact the helpline on 0300 123 4097.

To apply for a Working Families childcare eligibility code, go to the Government’s webpage Apply for free childcare if you're working.

When eligibility is confirmed, you will be notified of the dates that the eligibility runs from and to.

Eligibility dates are not the same as the dates that the funding can be claimed.

To claim funding, eligibility must be confirmed by HMRC by:

• 31 August, to start on or after 1 September, or
• 31 December, to start on or after 1 January, or
• 31 March, to start on or after 1 April.

You will need to share your 11-digit eligibility code to your childcare provider to agree the funding arrangements. You will also need to provide your National Insurance number and child's date of birth if you have not done so already.

The childcare provider will confirm to you the date from which funding can be claimed.

If your working status should change, for example you are made redundant, the child can continue to have the funded hours until the ‘grace period’ expires. However, please note that a funded place cannot be taken up for the first time during a grace period.

When to apply for the Working Families eligibility code

You can apply up to 16 weeks before your child is age eligible to take up their extended/expanded entitlement. If you are starting work for the first time (and therefore will no longer be receiving government benefits) you need to apply 2 weeks before your employment start date. It is recommended that you seek advice from your Job Centre work coach before making your online application.

Some applications may require HMRC to carry out additional checks so it may take 10 – 15 days to receive the eligibility code. It is therefore important not to leave the application to the last minute.

The recommended windows for applying are:

• For use from 1 January – apply between 15 October and 30 November
• For use from 1 April – apply between 15 January and 28 February
• For use from 1 September - apply between 15 June and 31 July

Reconfirming your eligibility for working families childcare

Your eligibility code will have an eligibility start date (not necessarily the date you can start your funded place), an eligibility end date, and a grace period end date. You must reconfirm your eligibility before the eligibility end date, the reconfirmation window starts 28 days before the eligibility end date.

You must do this even if your child has not started their funded place.

You should receive a text or email reminder to reconfirm from HMRC. This will prompt you to log into your Childcare Service account and go to 'secure messages' to access your reconfirmation date.

If you fall out of eligibility but later your circumstances change so that you may be eligible again, you will need to access your Childcare Service account and update your details. If eligibility is confirmed you will then need to present your updated eligibility code to your provider for validation and to make childcare arrangements.

Help and further Information

If you need help with the application or reconfirmation process you can contact the Government’s Childcare Service helpline on 0300 123 4097.

In order to find out which childminders, nurseries and pre-schools offer early years extended/expanded entitlement hours, please use the Hampshire Family Information and Services Hub directory.

To contact Services for Young Children please call our helpline on 01962 847070 (option 1) or complete our General Enquiry form.