Funded childcare hours, explained properly
There are three different funded schemes in England, they have different rules, and they start on dates that have nothing to do with your child’s birthday. Here is the whole thing in one place — including why “free” childcare still comes with an invoice.
In short
- Every 3 and 4-year-old gets 15 hours, whatever you earn. You don’t apply — your provider does it.
- Working parents can get 30 hours from 9 months old. You must apply, and reconfirm every 3 months.
- Some 2-year-olds get 15 hours through benefits, an EHC plan, or DLA.
- “Hours” means 38 weeks a year, not 52 — term time.
- Funding starts on 1 January, 1 April or 1 September — the term after your child reaches the right age, not on their birthday.
- Apply before the deadline or you wait a whole term. This catches people out constantly.
- It is not free. Expect charges for meals, nappies and extras.
Figures change — check before you rely on them.
Everything here applies to England and was checked in August 2026 against GOV.UK. Thresholds are usually revised each April. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run different schemes. The official service is beststartinlife.gov.uk — note this replaced the old Childcare Choices website, so old links and leaflets may point somewhere that no longer exists.
The three schemes, side by side
People talk about “the free hours” as though it is one thing. It is three, and you may qualify for more than one.
Universal
Working parents
Extra support
They stack in the sense that a 3-year-old of working parents gets 30 in total — the universal 15 plus 15 more — not 45.
Every 3 and 4-year-old: 15 hours
This is the simplest one, and the most reliably missed by parents who assume they earn too much.
Every child in England is entitled to 15 hours a week for 38 weeks a year from the term after they turn 3, until they start school. It does not matter what you earn, whether you work, or what benefits you do or don’t receive.
You don’t apply for this one
There is no form and no code. Your nursery or childminder claims it for you — you just tell them your child is due to start their funded hours. If a provider asks you to produce a code for the universal 15, they have confused it with the working-parent scheme.
Working parents: 30 hours from 9 months
Working parents of children from 9 months to 4 years can get 30 hours a week for 38 weeks a year.
Do you earn enough?
Each parent must expect to earn, over the next 3 months, at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at minimum wage. As checked in August 2026 that is:
Do you earn too much?
Neither parent can have an adjusted net income over £100,000 in the current tax year. This is a cliff edge, not a taper: one pound over and the whole entitlement goes, for both of you.
If you are close to £100,000
“Adjusted net income” is not the same as salary. Pension contributions and Gift Aid donations reduce it. If a bonus is going to tip you over, it is worth understanding the figure properly — and worth getting proper financial advice, because losing 30 funded hours can cost more than the bonus is worth.
If one of you isn’t working
Normally both parents need to be working. But you may still qualify if one of you is working and the other receives certain benefits — including Carer’s Allowance, or the limited capability for work element of Universal Credit. If you are a single parent, only you need to meet the test.
Reconfirm every three months
This is the single most common way families lose funding. You must log back into your childcare account and confirm your details every 3 months. Miss it, and your code lapses. Set a recurring reminder on your phone the day you first apply.
Some 2-year-olds: 15 hours
Separate from the working-parent scheme, a 2-year-old can get 15 hours a week for 38 weeks if you receive any of:
- Universal Credit, with a household income of £15,400 a year or less after tax, not counting benefit payments
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
Your child also qualifies, regardless of your income, if they:
- Have an Education, Health and Care plan
- Receive Disability Living Allowance
- Are looked after by a local authority
- Have left care under an adoption, special guardianship or child arrangements order
There are also separate income thresholds for families who cannot claim public funds because of their immigration status — worth checking directly on GOV.UK if that applies to you.
This one goes through your council
Not the online childcare account. Contact your council’s early years team or Family Information Service. Search your council’s name plus “free childcare 2 year olds”.
When it actually starts — the bit that catches people out
Funding does not begin on your child’s birthday. It begins at the start of the next term after they reach the qualifying age — and terms, for this purpose, start on three fixed dates.
So a child who turns 3 on 2 September waits until the following January. A child who turns 3 on 31 August starts that same September. Four weeks of difference in birthday, four months of difference in funding. It feels arbitrary because it is.
Apply early, not on time
You can apply for the working-parent scheme from when your child is 23 weeks old. If your code arrives after the deadline, you wait an entire term — and providers often need the code well before term starts to hold your place. Apply as soon as you are able to. There is no advantage in waiting.
How to apply
-
Universal 15 hours (3–4)
Nothing to do. Tell your provider your child is due to start their funded hours and they will claim it.
-
Working parents (9 months–4)
Apply online through the government childcare service at beststartinlife.gov.uk. You will need both parents’ National Insurance numbers and details of your income. You get an 11-digit code. Give it to your provider — and reconfirm every 3 months.
-
2-year-olds with extra support
Contact your council’s early years team or Family Information Service.
Why “free” childcare still costs money
This is the part that causes most of the arguments, so it is worth being straight about it.
The funding is a payment from the government to your provider at a set hourly rate. In many areas that rate is below what it actually costs to look after a child for an hour. Providers make up the difference somewhere, and there are only a few places it can come from.
You will commonly see:
- Charges for consumables — meals, snacks, nappies, wipes, sun cream.
- Charges for extras — trips, visiting music or sports sessions, French club.
- Higher rates on unfunded hours — the hours beyond your entitlement priced above the standard rate.
- Minimum session lengths — a provider offering only full days, so 15 funded hours means paying for the rest.
A provider cannot charge you for the funded hours themselves, and charges for extras are supposed to be genuinely optional rather than a condition of the place. In practice the line is blurry, and it varies enormously between settings.
What to ask before you accept a place
- “Can I see a written breakdown of everything I’ll be invoiced for on top of the funded hours?”
- “Which of these are optional, and what happens if I opt out?”
- “Can I take my 15 hours as three five-hour sessions, or do I have to buy full days?”
- “Do you stretch the hours over more weeks, or is it strictly 38?”
- “What’s your notice period for changing fees?”
Any decent provider will answer all five without flinching. Reluctance to put numbers in writing tells you something useful.
Stretching the hours
38 weeks is the default, but many providers let you take fewer hours across more weeks — roughly 11 hours a week across 52 weeks instead of 15 across 38. If you work all year round, ask. It is often a much better fit, and not every provider mentions it unprompted.
Extra help if your child has additional needs
Two things are frequently missed.
The Disability Access Fund. If your child is 3 or 4, receives Disability Living Allowance, and takes up any funded hours, their setting can claim a yearly payment to help them include your child properly — £975 a year from April 2026. It is paid to one provider that you nominate. Plenty of parents have never heard of it, and some settings do not proactively claim it, so it is worth asking directly.
Your council’s inclusion funding. Separately, councils hold funding to help settings support children with SEND. Ask your provider or the council’s Area SENCo what is available locally.
If your child needs more support than the setting can provide from its own resources, that is a different conversation — see our guide on getting an EHC needs assessment for an under-5, and our reasonable adjustments letter.