30 free hours code

[Goldenoodle]

We were given a code on 16th April

Our nursery say that they cannot use the code until September.

Is this correct?

I have left out his birthday, as the date itself is a little confusing. I just want to check if the above is correct or the nursery is wrong in not accepting this code since April when we received it.

My DD has an April birthday, and she got the free hours the September after.
When is his birthday?

Is birthday 1st April onwards? If so you can use it until September
My DD is 3 end of march so can use hers from April

Sounds right I think, if your child is born in April. Funding starts from the term after your child’s third birthday.
So my January daughter couldn’t get funding till Summer term (and actually couldn’t get a place till September when the older children moved up to Reception and freed up spaces)

That's true. The code starts the term after their 3rd birthday.

You get the hours the term after their 3rd birthday, but as Easter moves around it is based on the 1st April. So if after 1st April you can use the hours in September as that is the term after their 3rd birthday. It is very annoying, we have a January birthday so had to wait till after Easter to use them.

If you had applied for the code before the term cut off date of 31st March, you would have been entitled now. Since you applied late, the code will not be valid until September.

@Shapesorted we got a code without applying. It doesn’t matter when you got the code, it goes from your child’s birthday. OP never said she applied late, it just sounds like her DC was born after the cut off. We got our code in January, doesn’t mean I could use it in April, it’s not valid until September.

Yes, it’s correct
The nursery will know exactly what they are doing
They will have claimed countless of times
Just love it when parents try to tell us how to do our jobs

It's applicable from the first day of the first school term that starts after the child's third birthday.

So if e.g term starts on the 1st June and your DC turns 3 on the 31st May you can use the code to get the free hours from the 1st June

If your DC turns 3 on the 1st June then you can't use the code until the start of the next term e.g, 1st September

If you apply late in the term but would have otherwise been eligible for that term (e.g. born 31st May or earlier) then technically you can't use it but sometimes they can be 'lenient'.

I got the code in April and can’t use it to September. It depends when little ones birthday is.

We got the code early too, when we reconfirmed for tax free childcare. It wasn’t valid until the September but it meant we could give it to nursery nice and early

I haven't done the maths so don't know if it's actually the case or not but does this mean that children born early in the summer term (I.e shortly after Easter) basically lose out on funded childcare before reception due to having to wait both the summer and then the summer holidays?

Summer born Children get 4 terms (September to July ) before reception but e.g a February born child would get the Summer term after their third birthday and then also September to July the year after.

Hmm

So if e.g term starts on the 1st June and your DC turns 3 on the 31st May you can use the code to get the free hours from the 1st June

I don’t think it works like that @pastabest. You can’t use it after what is essentially still a half term from what I’m aware - it’s still the beginning of the summer, autumn or spring term. A child born in May will get their funding from September, not in June after half term.

@pastabest
It's always been the case that children born September get the longest in nursery so if birthday is September 20 they won't go up until September 22, a child in January 21 goes September 22 and an August goes September 22.

I haven't done the maths so don't know if it's actually the case or not but does this mean that children born early in the summer term (I.e shortly after Easter) basically lose out on funded childcare before reception due to having to wait both the summer and then the summer holidays?

Yes this happens to us. DS is born just a week after the cut off - if he’d been born a week earlier he’d be eligible now and I’d have an extra term of funding (i.e. a lot more money in the back for us) but I suppose the cut off has to be somewhere.

[quote Rosesareyellow]@Shapesorted we got a code without applying. It doesn’t matter when you got the code, it goes from your child’s birthday. OP never said she applied late, it just sounds like her DC was born after the cut off. We got our code in January, doesn’t mean I could use it in April, it’s not valid until September.[/quote]
Maybe a misunderstanding in what I've written. I should have put a caveat that the child's DOB was on or before 31st March to make what I wrote applicable.

I'm a childcare provider and access funding for lots of children each term for many years.

Who were you given a code by if you didn't apply for it? It's means tested.

@Shapesorted we have a tax free child care account to pay for our childcare - which one day when I went to reapply had turned into a ‘tax free childcare/ 30 hours funding’ account. A message appeared with the code, I didn’t need to do anything.

Eeee it’s rubbish isn’t it.

I have a late summer one so they get the hours just a couple of weeks after they turn 3.

The other is 3 in January so we can’t use the hours for 3 months.

Seems the spring babies are the hardest done by because of the summer break / term dates.

Yes, it’s correct
The nursery will know exactly what they are doing
They will have claimed countless of times
Just love it when parents try to tell us how to do our jobs

I think OP was just confused hence asking their question.

It can be confusing if you haven't done it before.

Calm down.

Ah ok, so by default you had applied, the code is provided and worked out through the same portal as TFC. For those not already using TFC, they make an account and provide their income/NI and child's details just as you did. The code is then generated. If the code is not generated in time for the start if the term that it is needed, then they have to wait until the next term. In your first post to me, you detailed getting the code much earlier, in plenty of time for the term in which you needed it.

Unfortunately the OP chose to leave out her child's DOB deeming it irrelevant but it just means we can only guess as to the scenerio in which she has a problem with.

Ah ok this all makes sense. Glad it is correct.
Thank you all!

He was born early April, so just after the cut off date 😩

I just wondered if the cut off was before Easter term which he would have qualified for. We had the code, so I thought the nursery were incorrect. But I believe now that they are right.

It's so frustrating that a couple of days earlier and he would have qualified. But because he was born a couple of days later, we have to pay childcare for 5 months more 😭

Don't forget to reapply every 3 months even though you've not used it.