Providing early education funded places for working families
By offering working parents 30 hours funded childcare the government aims to give parents a real choice about how they balance raising children with their working lives and aims to support, those parents who wish to work or to work more hours, to be able to do so.
The eligibility criteria for parents to access the additional funded hours can be found on the GOV.UK website.
How do parents check to see if they are eligible
Parents can apply through the Childcare Choices website. If they are eligible they'll get an 11 digit eligibility code to give to you.
You must check the parent's 11 digit eligibility codes on the Provider Portal, you can refer to the Provider Portal guidance notes for further information.
Please continue to encourage parents to check their eligibility early to ensure they can take up the funded hours, when they need them.
Alternative funded childcare options
If a family is not eligible for the working families entitlement, they may still qualify for funded childcare depending on the child’s age:
- 2-Year-Olds: Families may be eligible for 15 hours of funded childcare per week from the term after the child’s second birthday.
Please refer to: Providing early education funded places for two year olds. - 3 and 4-Year-Olds: All children are entitled to 15 hours of funded early education per week from the term following their third birthday.
Please refer to: Funded childcare for 3 and 4 year olds for more information.
Early education funding claim guidance for childcare settings
Eligible working families will be issued with an 11 digit eligibility code.
You must check the parent's 11 digit eligibility codes on the Provider Portal. You must also check the code dates are valid for the term you are claiming funding for. Please refer to the Provider Portal guidance notes for further information
Parents must reconfirm their working families eligibility every 3 months with Childcare Choices to ensure their code remains valid and their child retains their funded childcare place. Childcare Choices send parents email reminders and text messages to do this. The Early Years Funding Team also carry out grace period audits twice a term so that providers can identify any children that have fallen into their grace period. Providers must inform all parents that are in the grace period so that they can reconfirm their details before funding ceases.
If the family has not yet applied for their child's working families code, or has missed the application/reconfirmation date, please direct the family to Childcare Choices.
Schemes, guidance and resources for childcare providers
For additional information about funded childcare along with the different schemes available to help parents with childcare costs, visit Childcare Choices - Information for childcare providers.