Ask us anything about funded childcare - eligibility, applying, and what to expect £100 voucher to be won!

[LibbyMumsnet]

From September, eligible working parents in England with children aged 9 months to school age will be able to access up to 30 hours of funded childcare per week - part of the government’s expanded childcare offer in England.

We know that for many parents, it’s not always straightforward. You might be wondering:
– Am I eligible?
– How do I apply – and what’s the deadline?
– What will funded hours actually look like in practice?
– How do I feel about sending my child to nursery or a childminder?

This Q&A is here to help. Whether you’re after clear, practical info about the funding or want a better sense of what formal childcare is really like, post your question below and we’ll do our best to get it answered.

No question is too small – if it’s on your mind, chances are it’s on someone else’s too.
We’ve brought together two brilliant experts to support this discussion:
👩‍💼 Sarah Walker, an experienced Early Years teacher, who can answer any questions about formal childcare
👩‍👧 Tina Williams, Head of Editorial at Mumsnet and a parent currently using funded hours, who’ll be sharing her real-life experience

They’ll be answering questions weekly throughout July and August in the lead-up to the 31st August application deadline.

💬 Ask your question below by 31st August and you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win a £100 VEX gift voucher (T&C’s apply)

Totally makes sense @OliveMoonLight - it's a really common point of confusion.

The good news is: yes, your annual leave taken at the end of maternity leave does count as being back at work for funding purposes. So if your maternity leave officially ends in September and you're on paid annual leave from then, you're considered to be “in work” in the eyes of the eligibility check.

That means you'd be eligible to apply for funded hours to use in the September term, as long as you apply and get your code by 31 August.

And no - there’s nothing stopping you from going into work at the end of September and then taking annual leave after that. It’s all about what your official working status is, not whether you’re physically in the building.

Thanks for your question @ByPinkFis!

If you’re a full-time student getting the NHS Childcare Grant, you may not be eligible for the 30 hours funded childcare, as it’s for parents who are in paid work, earning the equivalent of at least 16hrs per week at NMW (and under £100,000 adjusted net income per year).

However, your child can still get 15 hours of funded early education from the term after their third birthday, no matter your work status.

If you return to work later, you could become eligible for the 30 hours then. And even if you've not returned to work, you will be eligible to get the 15 hours universal entitlement when your child turns 3

For more info, check the Childcare Choices website or your local council.

Hi @AgreeToDisagreeSometimes thanks for your question, I've just had to re-apply for my code recently so I can take this one. I've attached some screengrabs, hopefully that will help make things a little clearer!

1. I received an email from childcare services reminding me to reconfirm one month before I had to renew my code.
2. Follow the link in the email to _https://www.gov.uk/sign-in-childcare-account_ and log into your account.
3. Once you're logged in click on the re-confirmation block and fill in the form, it's very similar to the form you fill out at the start, basically just confirming your details and work-status. It took me less than five minutes.
4. I received a message in my secure message inbox saying I had successfully reconfirmed. I can't remember how many days later that message was sent but it was very quick.

But here's where I think it gets a bit confusing...You don't get an email with your code after you've reconfirmed.

5.To access your childcare code, go back to the homepage of your childcare account and locate the block titled "Free childcare for working parents."

1. Click on the link and you'll find your code.
2. Email the code to your nursery.

Now that I've been through the process once, it's actually very simple. But the first time was a little confusing! Hope that helps!

Hi @TinaWilliamsMumsnet @SarahWalkerEY im quite new to the forum so not sure if I’m doing this right but my question seems to have been skipped. Can you shine any light on this? Many thanks!

Thank you for answering my previous question. I do have another- so if my partner does not earn the threshold within the 3 months leading up to the end Sept cut off but is starting a new job, then would that make us eligible?
And would his start date of his new job have to be by end of Sept? Or can it be after as long as he earns enough in the 3 months after?
Thank you

Hi. How does this work with shared parental leave? Do you need to be back at work/ earn over a set amount during a certain period? I'd be thinking of using it in the summer term.

There has been some discussion on another thread suggesting that it is now illegal for nurseries to have registration fees, if parents are using any free hours.

Is this correct? As all nurseries seem to have some form of registration fee for getting on the waiting list / reserving a space.

Ok. context: Our boy turns 1 in Feb and mum is off until then. We likely wouldn’t qualify for funding until the April term if not the term after (whenever that is?).

To qualify for 30 hours, I’d need to cap my earnings but wife earns a lot less. if we do qualify financially we will be really struggling but better off than if I don’t - but either way the numbers do not add up and we will likely be underwater each month. I won’t go into details but effectively the mortgage is huge, and we’re not in a position to sell (cladding etc). Not after violins here, as well aware many probably dream of having to cap their salary to qualify (sadly in London and with the size of mortgages on pretty standard homes it’s increasingly a big challenge).

Therefore both of us need to work, so a nursery that covers the full year is appealing. However I’ve been told that if we were to go on a lengthy holiday (longer than 2 weeks). Then we wouldn’t qualify for the funding, I think for that term? And would have to reapply. This is quite an issue as my wife’s family live in China, and I think it’s important he gets to spend time with them and it would also benefit his development substantially in my opinion to experience the culture. Trips to China, you don’t really do for less than three weeks - particularly with a young child. My wife and I are in a lucky position that we get 30 days holiday each, 35 days if I buy more - on top of that our company allows us to work up to 4 weeks abroad a year. Because of this we were thinking we could do a total of 8 weeks abroad, with one parent holidaying the other working. So straight away we’ve reduced the need for childcare for the year down to 44 weeks and taking into account remaining holiday at alternate times down to 40 weeks.

I also want to speak to work about cramming my hours into 4 days a week. And my wife, that way we’d need care for just 3 days a week as well.

so in short - I’m thinking term time nursery would be better? But the after school pick up would be a issue as will need to work later if squeezing time into 4 days. The other big issue I have is actually finding a term time nursery.

I should add - we can potentially get the childcare need down to just 34 weeks. At this point I question whether a nursery is best route. Would a childminder be better? Or would they still want to charge on a full time basis.

I'm a cm and would be happy to offer a term time only contract. This is 38 weeks across the year roughly in line with schools, you dont get to choose the weeks yourself. I can fill the school hol weeks with school children then.

With the £100k limit, as long as it’s under this within the tax year, will you be eligible? Or do you have to show you’re on track to be under £100k every 3x months? Bonuses can sometimes fluctuate income throughout year.

Hi,
I currently get tax free child care, my LG is 1 in August.
i have tried to apply for my 30 hours but I have not had any confirmation, just told I can’t apply.
will I automatically get it when I reconfirm my details? Thanks

Hey all

What’s people’s thoughts on these 2 kitchen plans.

Struggling to decide which side to have the kitchen on and whether the living area should be placed in the bigger side (left) or the kitchen.

plan B is a bigger kitchen with bigger island etc. the island on plan A is quite thin (600mm) and I think the stools would need to go as they will obstruct the door I think.

the door way is on the right side so to get to B you’d need to walk round which isn’t a problem but a factor I guess urghhh so hard to make the decision 😂

I’ve also attached some 3D designs hopefully makes sense Help!

thank you all

What on earth does this have to do with funded childcare?

I've found my son a place at a great nursery 3 days a week, right by my workplace, but I'm nervous for two reasons:

1. I was devastated by the story about the little baby Genevieve who was suffocated by a nursery worker, and by the child abuse scandal at a nursery in Australia. Any advice on what reassurance to seek from the nursery as to my son's safety?

1. I'm a teacher and have been assigned 3 specific days for my timetable, which I had no input on. His nursery has a place for two of those days (Monday and Friday), but he's on the waiting list for the other day (Tuesday). I go back to work end of January. Should I start looking at another provider for Tuesdays, and how far in advance? It also feels like it would be really disruptive for my son.

Hi can you tell me if this is available for Northern Ireland as well or just England?

I didn't register with hmrc when I started my side hustle but want to do that now. Can I do it and just pay a fine to hmrc? Thanks

Thanks for your reply.

Earlier today my partner phoned Childcare Choices and was told the same. All children aged 9 months and over get 30 funded hours from September.

You said something different, and school said something different again.

Further proof that this absolute SHAM of a childcare system isn't fit for purpose.

Good morning 🙂
Quick question my daughter is almost two months old and I'm going to view a nursery next month I have to go back to work in April next year full-time for two months I will be relying on Nursery to look after her she will be 10 months old I see there is a deadline of six weeks to apply for funding do I need to apply in this time or when we're ready for nursery? I don't want to miss any deadlines because as I said I will really need to put her in nursery despite not wanting to
also only advice on my right to ask for reduced hours because it's going to kill me having to leave her for the two months I have to go back or face having to pay all my maternity pay back I'm very confused about how to approach the subject with work because I really enjoy my job and my weren't colleagues are my friends I don't have many friends outside of work and it's good for my mental health I wish I could just go back two days in a week and continue past two months Mark maybe somebody could help me draft a letter explaining all of this because I have ASD thank you

My son has just left school and is starting an apprenticeship in September. He only needs a 3 in maths and English for his course. My question is, will he still have to resit these if he doesn’t get a 4, (following government rules) even though he only needs a 3 for his course?
I can’t find the answer anywhere.
thank you

You could try applying now but your baby is probably too young yet and your application might get declined.

I think you might need to wait until she's 9 months old, or nearly, before applying.

You are still allowed to view/choose nurseries and put her name down on the nursery's list so that they have a place for her when she's ready to start. By then you'll definitely have the funded hours and code in place.

Sorry this isn't particularly helpful but hopefully somebody will be along soon with a much more factual response.

Enjoy your daughter. She won't ever be this tiny again x

You're very welcome @Writerscompanion - and yes, happy to clarify.

The grace period only applies to the 30 hours funded childcare, not to Tax-Free Childcare.

If you're already using 30 funded hours and then become ineligible when you next need to reconfirm (for example, because you have experienced a drop in income which means you don't meet the minimum threshold), you’ll usually still get the hours for a short time - that’s the grace period your nursery mentioned. It gives you a bit of breathing space while your circumstances settle.

Tax-Free Childcare doesn’t have a grace period in the same way - eligibility is checked every 3 months, and if you don’t reconfirm or no longer meet the criteria, top-up payments can stop right away once you become ineligible ( you can still use your Childcare Account to pay your provider). But you can reapply as soon as you’re eligible again.

So for the funded hours, yes, there’s a grace period. For Tax-Free Childcare, it’s a bit stricter - it’s best to reconfirm by the deadline each time. You can reconfirm for both at the same time to make it easier to remember!

Thanks for your question @mouse36 - that’s a great plan!

So if you're applying for an older child, not the one you're on leave for, you can go straight ahead and apply now. If you're applying for the child you're on leave for, then you're actually able to apply if you plan on going back to work one calendar month following the start of the term. That means you're able to claim the entitlements from the 1st January, if you are going back to work on or before 31 January. The same thing happens for the April term if you return on or before 30 April, and the September term if you return on or before 30 September.
You will need to apply online as normal during the autumn term, and before 31 December- your application may show as ‘pending’ but don't worry - you should then receive a letter in the post within 1 to 2 weeks, enabling you to access your entitlement.

If one parent is starting or returning to work within one month of the start of term (that is, 30 September, 31 January or 30 April), while the other parent remains on parental leave until a later date, then you would be eligible to apply.

If you are on paid annual leave and receiving your salary as normal, this counts as having returned to work for the purposes of eligibility for the working parent entitlement.

A great question - and sounds like you’ve planned well ahead.

As long as you’re earning the equivalent of at least 16 hours a week at minimum wage, you’ll still meet the eligibility for both 30 hours funded childcare and Tax-Free Childcare. Going down to 3 days a week shouldn’t affect your eligibility, as most teachers working 3 days still meet the earnings threshold.

You’ll need to apply the term before you want to start using the hours (e.g. by 31 December for a January start), and reconfirm your details every 3 months — so just make sure your income is expected to meet the threshold during that period.

No need to delay your application while waiting for formal approval - you can base it on your expected working pattern.

Hope that helps @ridl14