confusion about the earliest we can apply for funding

[ai38]

DD is going to start nursery on 26th of January 2026, she will be a little over 2 years old by then. The nursery told me we can apply for 30 hour government funding anytime after 1 September 2025 and the code we get then will be good for Jan term. What I read online says we have to prove our eligibility every three months.

If I apply more than three months before the term starts, let's say on 15th of September 2025, does it mean that I have to reapply again after 15th December 2025? If this is the case, then what the nursery staff told us won't be true and the earliest we can get a code without needing to reconfirm for Jan term is October 1st?

Once you have your code you have to reconfirm every 3 months to keep your eligibility. The nursery are not wrong to say you can apply in September but it will run out in December if you don’t reconfirm then, and would not be valid to use in January.

As above. If you apply in September you will just reconfirm in December. The nursery will be keen to gather funding codes as early as possible as that is their only evidence that you will intact be eligible for the 30hrs. Until you supply them with the code they may not want to book you in as they don't know whether you will be eligible or not

There’s no problem reconfirming in December. Once issued, the code stays the same. You just need to remember to reconfirm your eligibility so the code is still valid when the nursery submit it for funding.

Reconfirmation is super easy, too. You don’t need to ‘prove’ you’re still eligible, you simply log in, check your info is still correct and click a button.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Now I understand what's going on. Do you know what will happen if we get a code but end up not using it for that term? Is there some sort of penalty or will it affect our later applications?

It won’t affect anything if not used. You just reconfirm every 3 months as usual for it to remain valid.