Funding and term dates

[Lisa1409]

Hi all I wondered if anyone knew about funding of nurseries in UK
I'm due back at work the first week of October 2025, my baby will be 9 months old in July 2025. Am I right in thinking if I go back to work 30th September 2025 I'd be eligible for funding to start in September rather than having to wait until January 2026? Would the funding work for it to start in nursery in November say if I have a lot of annual leave to use up in October? Or does the child need to be enrolled and start at the start of the term to get the funding? The information on the Internet is really lacking. Thank you!

Your child needs to be enrolled on the qualifying date (which might not exactly match term dates that year, especially around Easter)

Funding is available from the start of therm after your child is 9 months.

You don't have to use it from the start of the term.

However, you may miss out on a nursery place if you delay the start. A nursery can choose to take a different child who wants a space from the beginning of a funding period, rather than have an empty space.

As a pp said - be careful with funding period dates around Easter - 2025 is a weird one, I seem to remember.

start of term

The date you return to work can also effect when you receive the funding.

if you look at the childcare choices website faqs there’s some date criteria based on return to work dates

Technically you're right but you need to have a code with a date before 31st August for it to work for the Autumn term so it's cutting it fine, as you can only apply a month before you return to work.

You will also need to speak to your provider about their own rules, as they need to have added a claim by (different dates for each LA) quite some time before the start of term to get paid on time.

You could start mid term but you must have a funding code that is dated before 31st August for you to be eligible for that term and ideally enrolled, even if your child hasn’t yet started, before head count day so they can be included in numbers. Eligibility codes need updating every three months. If you aren’t eligible until you go back to work (ie you can’t get a code by end of August) you probably won’t get funding until January.