Questions - moving to the UK

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We are currently living abroad but will be moving back to London (Clapham) next year in the summer. Baby will be 12 months old. I don't know anything about UK nurseries. Do they have to start on a specific date, like 1 September? Or can we choose to start in October for example? We would technically only need it from October and full time, 5 days a week.

And do nurseries cover 12 months of the year or do they have summer breaks like schools?

DH is British but I'm not and all my friends in the UK with very small children have quit work so are not mega helpful re nurseries!

I've tried googling my questions but there's so much on funding etc but nothing on super basic questions for total newbies like me! We will take a trip to the UK in December so I'll visit nurseries then but I'm a planner and like to know where to start

If you know where you will be living, definitely contact the nurseries you are interested in. Many will be full so it is finding one with space. When you start would depend what they can offer you. If you wait until an October, it will be for a nursery that has a full time space from that date. As schools start in September, might be worth asking if they take entries from any start date. the nurseries near is they do, as people return to work from maternity leave at any time of the year

Private daycare nurseries will be open five days a week year round less bank holidays. Roughly 7:30am to 6pm. Often a discount for full-time, and for siblings. You'll be able start whenever, if they have a place. Very very expensive, especially in London.

Preschool nurseries: mornings, term time only.

Some school nurseries run on school term dates, but I'm assuming as he's so young it will be a private nursery. I'm my experience they take children at any time of year, but there are more openings in the summer as the oldest children move up to school and the others move up to an older room as spaces become available.

I'd start calling around now and getting on waiting lists. Nb, I didn't realise this when we went through it, but waiting lists aren't always first come first served - they have to match the days you need to the days they have availability, so if you can be flexible about which days you take that will help.

Many nurseries have long waiting lists. So get on them now!
They operate all year round, but most vacancies are in September when older children leave for school. But they so occur throughout the year.

OK, so in the UK, "nursery" can mean both "private day care" and "state funded preschool".

For private daycare, there is often a very long waiting list, and I believe that prices in London can be of the order of £100/day! These settings are open 50+ weeks a year, usually only closing for a few days at Christmas and bank holidays, and usually open 7.30am-6pm, I'm speaking from my non-London experience; in London open hours may be longer. These settings are the more flexible option for working parents.

For state funded preschools, they are open term time only (39 weeks a year), during school hours, and open to children from the term after their 3rd birthday. So if your child's birthday is 1 Sept, they would be eligible for a place IF THERE IS CAPACITY the following January. At this age, all children are entitled to 30 hours a week. Many settings will dictate when/how this can be taken eg: in 5 blocks of 3 hours from 9 am - 12 noon, or 1-4pm. Going to a preschool nursery attached to an infant/primary school, does not guarantee a place at the infant/primary school.

There are many tunes to play on the state model, and the preschools may not be as "free" as one might first imagine.

Children in private daycare nurseries are also entitled to 30 hours at 3+, and again, private nurseries often have conditions on how this can be used.

Those are the two basic types of childcare "nurseries". There are variations, and every one allocates the way the 30 hours can be be used differently. In London you are probably going to be looking at long waiting lists.

There are also childminders and nannies.