All 3 to 4-year-olds in England can get 570 hours of free early education or childcare per year. This is usually taken as 15 hours each week for 38 weeks of the year. Some 2-year-olds are also eligible.

Additional entitlement of extra 15 hours available for working parents.

Is my family eligible for 30 hours funding?

You will be eligible for the 30-hour funded offer if:

• You earn more than the equivalent of 16 hours at the national living wage or minimum wage per week: for example, over the next three months you expect to earn at least £1,976 - the National Living Wage if you are 23 or older.

There is no requirement to work a certain number of hours per week – it is all about how much you earn. This means if you only work 10 hours a week but earn £12 per hour, you will meet the minimum earning threshold. Apprentices are also eligible as long as they earn the equivalent to 16 hours at the apprentice minimum wage.

AND

• You earn less than £100,000 per year.

This applies if you are self-employed or on a zero-hours contract and expect to meet the earning criteria on average over the three months after you have applied for the 30-hours. HMRC will look at data such as your previous earnings to consider whether you are likely to meet the criteria and may contact you for further information if they are unsure. 

If you are starting up your own business, you will not be expected to meet the minimum earning criteria in your first year of trading. 

If you are not working but you expect to take up paid work within 31 days, you can still apply for 30 hours, as long as you expect to meet the income criteria over the coming three months.

If you are a single parent and meet the above criteria, you will be eligible for the 30 hours. If you live with a partner, you both must meet the above criteria. This still applies if one of you is not the child’s parent – for example, if you have remarried or have started living with a new partner. If you are separated/divorced from your child’s parent, the eligibility rules will only apply to the parent that the child normally lives with (and their new partner if they are part of the same household).

If you are on shared parental, maternity, paternity or adoption leave, you can still apply for the 30 hours. If you’re on adoption leave for a child aged three- to four-years-old, you must return to work within 31 days of the date you first apply for the 30 hours offer.

Here at Penny Pot Nursery you can stretch your funding hours of either 570 or 1140 over 51 weeks attendance. 

To apply for the 30 hours early years funding, please visit https://www.gov.uk/apply-30-hours-free-childcare

You may have to pay for extra costs like meals, art & craft consumables, extra curriculum activities and trips. Please see our All Inclusive Policy for further details 

You can start claiming free childcare after your child turns 3. The date you can claim will depend on when their birthday is.