How do I claim the Early Years Education Grant?

[MrsMerryHenry]

DS is nearly 3 and I can claim from Jan. Do I have to go through Sure Start, Inland Revenue, nursery, some other body? The Direct.gov website says NOTHING about how you can actually get your hands on this money!!

nursery will give you a form when the time comes - this has happened at his nursery and pre school

remember it is the term AFTER their 3rd birthday that they are entitled to the 12.5 hours

it isn't money as such - you get the sessions free or knocked off your bill

DS was 3 in June and he claimed from September

Nursery just gave me a form to sign so that they could claim the money - they tell me on my monthly bill how much they will get and are therefore knocking off the bill

Ahh, no wonder. Well that makes my life much easier; one less thing to organise. And yes, ruby - I know it's the following term; DS's birthday is before Xmas so we won't have long to wait.

Thanks both!

Does anyone know how much this money actually amounts to - is it the same everywhere or does it vary depending on your education authority?

Just marking this thread as I need answers too!

Have just, to my total horror, realised that since DS is an early April baby, we can't claim until SEPTEMBER... i thought we could claim after Easter. Disaster...

Goldysmum - the amount it's worth varies massively as it the 12.5 hours of free early education that your child is entitled to, not the monetary equivalent.

In our LA, the nursery works out what it's hourly rate is, multiplies it by 12.5 (or however many hours your child is claiming) and then knocks that amount off your bill. Any money left over (very very little, if any) is then fed back into the FEEE place.

There are some LA's who refund the whole amount, but this isn't standard practice.

2jam - yes, that's correct - your ds is eligible in the term following his 3rd birthday, so will be funded from September. The good news is that all settings will be offering 15hours of free education from September 2010 if they are not already doing so

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. Just to check, are you saying that from September 2010 it will be going up from 12.5 to 15 hours? And a more expensive nursery can simply claim back more money than a cheaper nursery for the hours?

Yes, from September 2010 all settings will be offering 15hrs Free Education Entitlement if they are not already doing so.

No, more expensive nurseries can't claim more money, they all claim the same amount from govt (at the moment) but what they charge for that childs place per hour will vary from setting to setting depending on what their own hourly rate is. The child is entitled to the free 12.5/15 hours funding, not X amount of moneys worth, if that makes sense?

AFAIA the more expensive nurseries will be running their funded places at a loss - cheaper nurseries will have money left over from what is claimed from the govt, so to speak, which is then fed back into the grant place (for materials/staff wages etc) - it's usually peanuts though!!

As I say, there are some LA's who allow nurseries to simply knock the whole funded amount off their fees, our LA doesn't, and AFAIA this isn't standard practice.

Clear as mud?

Absolutely. Thanks for clearing things up

I thought that the grant was for £3.75 per hr for 15 hrs per week ( though I guess this prob varies between boroughs an LEAs). My nursery charged £5.00 per hr so I paid the extra £1.25 per hr plus £5.00 per hr for the period not covered by grant, as the grant is for 38 weeks a year.

We are moving so have to take daughter out of current nursery and trying to find childcare that is term time only as I work 33 weeks per year and can't afford to pay for 50!

Any advice please?? Thanks

The practice of top up fees has long been frowned on by local authorities and from September a new Code of Pracice comes into play for settings claiming the Nursery Education Grant for their children to prevent it happening. The amount a setting gets does vary between Local Education Authorities and it is subject to recalculation every year, just as school budgets are.

There are some nurserys that will do term time only care but IME they are few and far between. Have you considered using a childminder? If you use an Accredited Childminder you will stil get the 15 hours early education paid for.

Every nursery I speak to converts their received hourly rate over 15 hours into a cash amount and deducts it from their bill. They theory of a "free" 15 hours does not seem to apply.