Early Years Education Funding

Claiming your setting's EYE funding

Headcount, Important dates, deadlines and maximum hours

By claiming early years education funding you are agreeing to the latest EYE Terms and Conditions.

It is important to check that all your service details are correct. To amend/change your service details you need to use the Self Update tile facility on the Provider Portal. Guidance for this can be found on Moodle.

If you need to close the setting due to an emergency (bad weather, etc.) please inform us using this form: Early Years and Childcare Providers - Emergency Closure Reporting

For funding enquiries regarding emergency closures or other issues please contact us.

View privacy notices

Find EYE funding resources

Parent declaration

All EYE and EYPP funding claims must be supported by a Parent Declaration Form, and the appropriate privacy notice provided.

Eligibility

Two year old funding

Parents should have applied through the Education Online Portal. If the child is eligible, the parent must provide you with evidence of eligibility with a reference number. If the parent has a code issued from another authority, this has to be verified with that authority. If parents are trying to apply for 2YO funding and do not have a code, you can make an assisted application on their behalf through your provider portal access before you book their place.

Once you have verified that the child has a valid 2-year-old funding code, you can add the child to your next headcount task. If the child has a Hampshire eligibility code (format: TYF-MMYY-xxxxxx) there is nothing else you need to do. If the child has a code from another authority you will need to contact Services for Young Children after you have submitted your claim to give us the code details so we can process your claim.

Further 2 Year Old Funding information and resources

30 hours funding (extended entitlement)

Parents must have applied through the Government childcare accounts. You need to ensure that you have validated all eligibility codes from parents (by 31 December, 31 March or 31 August). You must check the eligibility dates are valid for the same period of funding that you are claiming for. Once the codes have been checked that they have valid dates the additional hours can be claimed for in the same way as for the universal entitlement. Please note that first time claims can not be made in the grace period.

Further 30 Hours Childcare information and resources

Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP)

The Parent Declaration Form has all the details you need to make an EYPP claim. When entering your headcount claim you need to include the details for the parent/carer when adding a new child, or for an existing child by updating previously entered information. The EYPP supplement claimed will be added to the payment made for any children found to be eligible.

Further EYPP information and resources.

Disability Access Fund (DAF)

Children who are 3 or 4 years of age and in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are eligible for the Disability Access Fund. You can apply for this in the Provider Portal using the Disability Access Fund tile, you will need to supply a copy of the parent’s DLA award letter. DAF can be applied for once the child is 3-year-old funded and again 12 months later when they are 4-year old funded. DAF is paid separately from other headcount funding.

Further DAF information and resources.

Deferred entry/deceleration to year R or home schooling

If a parent defers or delays their child's entry into year R, a deferred entry declaration form must be completed so you can continue to receive EYE funding for that child.

Early Years Education (EYE) funding is only available up to statutory school age. For clarity children are no longer eligible for early years funding once they reach statutory school age as follows:

Children with a 5th birthday between: Early Years Education funding stops: Parents responsible for funding a nursery or preschool place:
1 September and 31 December On 31 December From 1 January
1 January and 31 March On 31 March From 1 April
1 April and 31 August On 31 August From 1 September

Calculate your claim

EYE funding delivers 570 hours in a year either as a ‘standard offer’ or as a ‘stretched offer’. The standard offer funds 15 hours a week over 38 weeks in term time only. The stretched offer spreads the 570 hours over more than 38 weeks and up to 51 weeks with fewer hours per week, e.g. 51 weeks x 11.17 hours a week or 48 weeks x 11.87 hours a week. These are called the Universal Hours.

Providers claiming on a standard offer are paid in three fixed tranches of funding:
14 weeks in the Autumn period
12 weeks in the Spring and
12 weeks in the Summer

On which exact days across the year you deliver the 570 hours is up to you to agree with the parents according to your opening pattern.

Providers claiming on a stretched offer can decide how the total number of weeks funding is paid over the year. For a 51 week stretched offer we would expect this to be:
16 weeks in the Autumn period
13 weeks in the Spring period and
22 weeks in the Summer period

A child’s funding year commences the period after their birthday and does not follow the academic calendar (September to July).

By making payments in these fixed tranches of complete weeks of funding we can ensure that, no matter when an individual child’s funding year starts, providers will only claim 570 hours in total across the 12 month period.

If the child is attending more than one setting, you must ensure that you consult with the other provider and agree between you the number of hours you are each claiming per week.

If a child has a 30-hour code then they will be entitled to a further 570 funded hours (called Extended Hours). If a child has 30-hours entitlement and attends more than one setting, then providers must also agree how the universal hours and extended hours are to be split between you.

For more information about claiming your headcount, including podcasts, and guidance on using the Provider Portal please look at Moodle.

Please also refer to our Headcount Claiming FAQs

Submit your claim

It is important that you submit your claims in the designated periods and it is also important that you check the payments we subsequently make against your submitted claim. You can download a copy of your Headcount Task to Excel and once payments are made we will send you a full breakdown in a Funding Summary Report which is sent to you via the Provider Portal.

Late claims

If a child starts after the adjustment period has ended, or you realise you have made an error in your claim, you must immediately contact us using the General Enquiry form or call our helpline 01962 847070 (option 1) with the details. All revisions must be received before the end of the funding period to which they relate, to ensure they can be added to your claim. If we agree to process a late funding claim that is raised with us after the last headcount task has closed, there will be an administration charge of at least £50.

Changes agreed in a subsequent funding period will only be approve in exceptional circumstances.

For information on use of the Provider Portal please see Moodle.

Provider Portal for claiming funding/updating service details