Free nursery hours - does it work in practice?

[agreentowel]

Hello. I currently live in Scotland but my family live in London. I’m hoping to start trying for a baby in the next year or so, and wanted to know about childcare so I can make an informed decision on where to live as I can’t afford to stop working.

England: You are entitled to 15 hrs a week between 9 mths-2 yrs, then 30 hrs a week between 3-4

Scotland: It seems like you don’t get anything until the child is 3 and then you become eligible for 22 hours

This seems quite unfair given that I pay more tax up here! I also don’t have any family support in Scotland so am trying to consider what would make most sense.

My question is, do these free hours really materialise in practice, or is there a shortage of funded places meaning you have no choice but to pay for a private nursery?

Grateful for any insights for both England and Scotland. Thank you!

From Sept 2025 children 9months+ get 30 free hours per week (in term time, works out about 24 hours per week if using all year round)

It will depend the area and the nursery. I'm in the NW of England and have no issues accessing my son's 15 hours, which will go up to 30 soon. I don't get an extra charge for nappies/food etc either.

Sorry meant to add, we have already booked our unborn baby a nursery place from Sept 2025 - all seems straight forward so far with no unexpected costs (though I gather every nursery is different)

Private Nurseries (in England) take the not well enough funded hours.

In fact, if you are talking about babies, then all the Nurseries will be Private.

is there a shortage of funded places meaning you have no choice but to pay for a private nursery?

That is certainly the case round here. Purely because so many nurseries have folded that those remaining are so sought-after that they can charge what they want.

If you stay in Scotland, your kids will get free university though!

I’ve found in London the nursery requires you to use more than the free hours allowed. I also found some watered down the hours value and the fees were so extortionate that I’m now a full time sahm at great sacrifice. Best of luck! I am probably missing something so hopefully others can help better

Thank you! Are you in England can I ask?

This is the kind of thing I was wondering about! Looks good on paper, but in reality you are still spending a lot of money. Thank you for sharing

I can only speak for Edinburgh.

You can use your hours in Council nurseries or those in partnership with the council.

In some council ones you get 30 hours term time. But you pay nothing extra. In others you get 2 10 hour days then so many "flexible Fridays" for your 1140 hours. This year certain nurseries have offered the chance to buy extra hours allowing you to have a full time place. I think it's £6 something per extra hour.

Edinburgh usually fund snacks and lunches.

In partnership nurseries you would use it as agreed there.

You can get two years places funded but a very strict criteria.

If you have to pay towards nursery you can get 85% back on nursery fees through universal credit. I don't pay anything towards my sons nursery

You can also combine with the Tax Free childcare which reduces your bill by 20% if you're eligible.

Oh some places offer Mornings or afternoons too. Each setting does their own thing.

is there a shortage of funded places meaning you have no choice but to pay for a private nursery?

I think there is a shortage in some areas, but for younger toddlers and babies they will all be private and still offer the hours.

We've not had any issues accessing them for our two (was just the 30 free hours for over 3s with our eldest, and now our youngest gets the extended ones for younger children).

The issue with the hours is that the funding the nurseries get for them isn't enough.

The funded hours are paid higher for babies from the LA but then drop a lot from 2yo. Check you can also meet the costs of the 2yo prices when working things out.

Funded places vary from nursery to nursery depending on how much they get from their LA (this varies through the country) and the hours they offer for funding to be applied to.