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Original poster

15/30 free childcare/ Tax-free childcare/ Universal Credit

5 replies

MamaDemi · 10/05/2025 08:05

Hello,

Please I need some advice as I am terribly confused. I am currently in receipt of UC as I took mat leave for a year and stop getting paid from my employer but now I’m due to return back to work and I need to understand this free childcare hours/Tax-free childcare (govt 20% support)/UC.

I applied for the code successfully to get the free hours and I vaguely recollect seeing I would have to close my UC claim. I basically think I will be better off staying on UC as I have also reduced my hours at work.
obviously with nursery stretching the funded hours, I am still left with a bill of about £600 monthly.

My question is can I use the 15/30 free childcare hours code then claim the £600 back through UC or Do I not use the code at all, pay the nursery full bill (which is about £1400/mth) then claim it back through UC.
it’s just so confusing. Someone please help.

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ScrewedByFunding · 10/05/2025 08:12

You can claim the funded hours and use UC for the balance but you can't use Tax free children (the 20% top up) and UC together.

Original poster
MamaDemi · 10/05/2025 12:25

ScrewedByFunding · 10/05/2025 08:12

You can claim the funded hours and use UC for the balance but you can't use Tax free children (the 20% top up) and UC together.

Oh fantastic . Thank you so much. This has been so frustrating.

OP posts:
YourWiseSheep · 10/05/2025 18:56

To be eligible for the 15/30hrs you need to be working the equivalent of 16hrs per week at the national minimum wage. This means earning £196 in paid employment per week. If you have a partner you both need to.meet this criteria

ScrewedByFunding · 10/05/2025 21:02

YourWiseSheep · 10/05/2025 18:56

To be eligible for the 15/30hrs you need to be working the equivalent of 16hrs per week at the national minimum wage. This means earning £196 in paid employment per week. If you have a partner you both need to.meet this criteria

I applied for the code successfully to get the free hours

Seems like she does.

Original poster
MamaDemi · 10/05/2025 22:05

YourWiseSheep · 10/05/2025 18:56

To be eligible for the 15/30hrs you need to be working the equivalent of 16hrs per week at the national minimum wage. This means earning £196 in paid employment per week. If you have a partner you both need to.meet this criteria

I do qualify for the free hours, my confusion was when I saw I had to close my UC claim so I wanted to know if it referred to the 15/30 hours as well as the 20% top up. So I wanted to know if I could get the free hours then use my UC to reclaim 85% of the bill as I believe I would be financially better off as I am also on reduced days or if the 15/30 hrs was tied to the 20% govt top up only which means I would have to go unfunded with the nursery on a private bill and make a bigger claim through UC.

I Hope what I wrote makes some sense

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