Fre 15 hours

[RealPoet]

I applied for free 15 hours and got a code but all nursery said they have no availability for my son until spring. I'm worried what should I do because I might lose those free hours because I won't be using them until spring, what should I do so as not to lose them? Thank you

This happened to us last year. We didn't lose them. I didn't know that you could!

Thanks for your reply. I am very glad that you did not lose the branches... and may I ask what you did to not lose free hours? you just reconfirmed every 3 months?

Yes just keep you code valid, reconfirm when required.

Have you looked in to childminders?

Many thanks for your suggestions. I'm a bit scare of childminders, I scare that they will mistreat my child...

You can't lose them, you are entitled to them once you find somewhere eith availability.

Just be aware that they are rarely free. Almost all childcare places require some kind of topup to make ends meet because the government funding for those hours is massively insufficient. If you only want the free 15 hours and no more it may take you a long time to find a place because the easiest way to balance the books is by having a fee structure where the costs of the extra hours above 15 covers the shortfall in the government funding for the 15. The few places that are genuinely free have very few places. If you are on UC though remember you can claim for 80% of childcare costs.

Thanks for your reply.
I don't have a UC.
30 free hours only from 3 years or no?
From September 2024 rules are changed but I don't understand, from 9 months parents can apply for 15 free hours only, or 30 hours as well?

Erm OK.

30 hours will be from September 2025 for 9 months +

It's from the term after they turn 9 months. So for children born in Jan/Feb/Mar they will reach 9 months in Sep/Oct/Dec and will be eligible for 15 subsidised hours from Jan.
For Children born in Apr/May/Jun they will reach 9 months in Jan/Feb/Mar and be eligible from Apr. Children born Jul-Dec won't be eligible until the September term so most of them will be nearer 1yo.

Remember it is term time only to have 15h. If a setting operates all year around the funded hours are only 11 and a bit and they are unlikely to let you not have any extra paid for hours.

30 hours can be from age 2 for some families in need of more support, but it's 3 for everyone else. Again it's the term after turning 3 rather than instantly on their 3rd birthday.

Many thanks for your explanation, I wish you all the best 🌷

My little one goes to a childminder and he absolutely loves it there. The childminder and her assistants are all DBS checked and are the nicest women. My son always gives them a massive smile when he sees them and sometimes a hug. I'd really start looking at different childminders if there are no nursery places. You can meet them at their setting and you can see what it's like. Im honestly glad mine doesn't go to a nursery because he gets more interaction with there being less children to staff ratio. I got my code in the September but couldn't use it til the January. Was told that it stays valid

@RealPoet childminders are just as strictly monitored as nursery workers.

Thanks I will try

As others have said, you should just reconfirm your details every 3 months.

Also, I realise this wasn’t your question & please ignore me if you already know, be aware that you don’t necessarily get 15 hours a week free for the whole year (we got caught out with this by not reading properly, had our first invoice about £200 more than expected - our fault!) so if/when you do get in it’s a good idea to get the nursery to tell you the exact costs before you commit. We had to reduce our placement days to term time only to make it more affordable.

Thanks, many thanks 😊