Confused on fees

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I'm 9 months pregnant and have started looking at nurseries. We're looking for 3 days a week from September '26. I've seen 2 so far, 3 more booked for next week, all accept the 30 hours funding and 4 of the 5 stretch the hours over 51 weeks.

None would answer about how the 21/30 funded hours would impact the fees. 2 weeks ago I asked if those funded hours were taken first, if there's a cap or if only core hours were covered and I paid an hourly rate outside of these core hours (if so what are the core hours and rate). Has anyone got an answer from their nursery or guidance on the general standard on this please?

I asked our maternity team at work and they said it was nursery dependent and to ask them. I want to make sure I'm not over committing before reserving a spot that someone else could want.

Most nurseries have their fees policy on their website. Staff at show arounds are unlikely to know the nuances around your invoices.

3 of them have their day rates, the other 2 sent them across but it doesnt show anything about the funded hours or how they can be used. The 2 I've seen I was shown round by the nursery manager.

You’d need to have a chat directly with the nursery you choose because they all apply them differently, we viewed quite a few nurseries before deciding on ours and every one of them had their own rules for the funding.

They may be reluctant to answer because the actual answer is that they need to charge a top up to stay afloat, but the rules don’t let them do that any more, so they don’t want to be explicit.

They may not want to commit a year out to guaranteeing anything in case it all goes wrong.

I find it weird but you just need to ask them explicitly - they can’t expect you to pay a deposit or put your DCs name down on a waitlist without knowing the price!

Our nursery had a very clear table - full price, with 15 hours and with 30 hours for 1,2,3,4 and 5 days per week

Thank you for all the responses!

I chased today, one nursery responded so far, their flat day rate is £90 but if it is a funded day the rate for additional hours and consumables is £75.

I'll keep chasing the others, I didn't realise they'd all be so different!

How many hours fundingvto they subtract for the £15?!?

I’ve found that nursery’s apply the funding differently so you’ll probably need to ask them specifically for the monthly cost with the 30 hours included.
I work in a nursery and the way we calculate it is 3 x our day rate x 38 weeks and divide it by 12 and then apply that amount off the parents bill. We charge for food and nappies monthly on top of that.

Are you absolutely stuck on a nursery?
Im a childminder and my parents use their funded hours with me, I charge no extras, the funded hours cover all fees during term time , nurseries are so much more expensive.
The funded hours for babies are REALLY well paid, in my area (midlands) over £11 an hour, this is up to age two.
It drops drastically from age 3, to £5.50 an hour.
So the kids from 9 months to age 2 basically subsidise the older kids in a nursery setting,
Only using the funding to account for £15 worth of childcare is an absolute piss take!

Just seen you only want 3 days!
You would pay nothing during term time with a cm, if you don’t want the full 30 hours in the week most cms will stretch the funding to cover some hours in the school holidays.

That’s crazy pricing! Were they clear in how many hours funding used per day? Do they stretch over the year etc

I’m in the south east and £95 day rate was then £30 odd for a fully funded day. Whilst nursery was still expensive the funded hours did make a difference!

Every nursery is applying them differently. We are fairly flexible. The most funded hours allowed per day by the government is 10. Our standard full day is 10.5 hrs 7.30-6 so we have a funded full day slot that covers 7.30-5.30 or 8-6. If parents need the full 10.5 day they have to pay for the extra half hour.

We fund lunch hour, some nurseries don’t.

We also do core days or Am or Pm only sessions.

For a full day you would pay £10 for three meals, snacks and consumables. It is less for other funded days depending on which meals are needed.

Our full day unfunded for under 2’s is £75

It seems they all work so differently. All the feedback above is really helpful. I really appreciate it

The nursery didn't go into a full breakdown but said they don't stretch the funded hours so it's 30 hours over 38 weeks. The funded hours are 9-3 and consumables for funded days are £12 (this is food, parents provide nappies and wipes). Opening hours are 7.30-6, so I've taken it as 10.5 hrs a day, -6 funded hours. Leaving 4.5 paid hours. £75-£12(food) = £63. £63/4.5= £14 per hour (I think, unless my maths is worse than I thought!)

So for this nursery we can only use 18 of the 30 funded hours, the rates seem steeper than some I've heard of in similar areas too. I'm in the North of England and not anywhere fancy! I think this nursery may not be possible but I'll keep chasing the other for responses. The feedback from everyone has helped me understand a bit more of where the figures come from and what to expect, thank you 😊

My child is in nursery 3 days a week, 30 hours a week and gets the funded 30 hours per week. They added on food fees (breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea) understandably from 1st September, whereby they were previously included in the fees. My child is 2 yrs old.
We always supplied nappies. Nursery has and still does provide wet wipes and snacks free of charge.

We pay across 52 weeks a year. The day rate is £80 a day. A day is classed as 10 hours 8-6pm if you want to use the full 10 hours. We don't, more like 8.5 hours.

The nursery worked it out as below:

3 days funded for 38 weeks - £0
3 days to pay full price for 14 weeks - £80 x 3 days x 14 weeks - £280.00
Food for the funded sessions = £71.25 per month.

Total fees from 1st September 2025 = £351.25 per month.

Hope this makes sense. Seems fair to us.

There's not many childminders in the area we're looking for, I've contacted 2 but neither had availability. They both had amazing feedback so got booked up quickly! I think I am just more familiar with the idea of nursery so i think that's what we went for

It sounds like you're really upfront and clear with the families you work with, that's brilliant, I wish that happened more often!

Nurseries have to juggle the numbers and charge you enough that they actually manage to pay their expenses. If the business doesn't make more profit than the same capital would gain invested in shares etc then they are being expected to operate as a charity rather than a business. Your local council may run a nursery that is only open 9am-3pm term time only and that may be actually free, but all others I would expect them to make you pay significantly because the government rates for the funded hours are generally nowhere near the real cost of operations.

However they have to do so in a way that is obscure and complex and shrouded in mystery because the government keep trying to readjust the rules to prevent nurseries from using a simple straightforward way to get you to pay the difference between the real cost of the service you want vs the money the government is willing to pay towards what they claim should be free. This is ridiculous because they cannot legislate nurseries into being capable of offering the service quality you want to pay for at the price the government is willing to subsidise. The nurseries are unlikely to give you a straightforward and fully transparent answer to what your bill will be in 12 months or more because it's entirely possible that there will be a rule change before then making them need to change their charging structure - but they will still have to ensure that the extra you pay meets their needs because otherwise they will go out of business.

My daughter is in nursery 3 mornings a week, and will be going up to 3 ‘short days’ (8-3.30) come January. We pay £22 a day for her as 2 of the hours she is there fall outside of their funded hours slots. When she goes for longer in the new year we will still be paying £22 per day as the extra hours fall within their funded time slots.

It seems all nurseries do it differently. We are in Gloucester.

I pay just under £400 a month for 3 days a week with 30 hours funding stretched to cover 52 weeks, If that's any help. A regular day is around £90 without funding. You can then use tax free childcare for a further 20% off.

Very well said @GameWheelsAlarm

would be so much easier if govt just said “we will pay £5 an hour towards 20h a week for 50 weeks a year, anything on top is between provider and parent” or something!

They vary so much but should have a table that clearly states fees and fees with funding. Of the 3 nurseries we visited (all between £75-85 a day on full fees), 2 stretched the hours over the year so it equated to approximately 2.5 funded days a week. One charged £15 consumables for a full day, £8 for a half day as a top up, the other charged £30 a day consumable top up, £20 for a half day, no minimum commitment so fine with us using 2 days a week. The 3rd nursery only used the hours in term time, £20 a day consumable top up, full fees the other 14 weeks of the year, minimum of 3 full days a week all year round, no option to just use two days.

It was like getting blood from a stone to get the figures from my nursery for funded hours. I’d assumed that funded hours meant funded hours, when in reality it often means a bit of a reduction. Make sure you push for this info.

Ah yes for three days a week you really need a nursery that applies 10 hours per day funded.

Ours stretched so 21.5 hours per week I think. So we had 4 days a week - funded hours + consumables for funded days multiplied by 51 weeks and then dived by 12 for equal payments. Then tax free childcare on top of this (£166 a month as wasn’t the full 20%). Ours also charged for bank holidays so worth clarifying that too.

I am, my parents are all lovely and we get on great, good luck in finding somewhere, and of course to welcoming your beautiful new baby!