How many free hours is my child entitled to?

 

All children are entitled to the universal 15 hours per week over 38 weeks of free childcare from the term after their third birthday until they reach statutory school age.

 

In addition, children with parents who meet the eligibility criteria (see www.childcarechoices.gov.uk for details) can claim:

9 month olds 15 hours per week of free childcare for 38 weeks of the year (starts September 2024) •

​

2 year olds 15 hours per week of free childcare for 38 weeks of the year •

​

3, 4 and 5 year olds an additional 15 hours per week of free childcare (so a total of 30) for 38 weeks of the year.

As we are open for 50 weeks of the year, we stretch the 38 week free childcare entitlement over the full 50 weeks we are open.

 

This means that children are eligible for either 11.4 or 22.8 free hours per week over 50 weeks.

 

Childcare Support When is my child eligible for the free hours?

 

 

​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​​​​​​

How do the free hours affect my nursery fees?

The free hours are provided completely free of charge, but the nursery does charge for all additional hours and consumables.

​

Please note that although your fees will be lower once your child becomes entitled to some free childcare, they may not fall as much as you might expect because the cost of additional hours is normally significantly higher than for bookings that are paid for in full at our standard published rates.

 

Because we allow so much flexibility in booking patterns, it isn't possible to show the cost of every possible booking.

​

​

What do I need to do to claim the free hours?

In order to claim the Childcare Support to which you are entitled, we will need to send you some paperwork to complete. It is important that this be returned to us by the stated deadline as late claims are not normally possible.

​

If you are eligible for Childcare Support for 9 month olds/2 year olds or the additional 15 hours of Childcare Support for 3+ year olds, you will need to apply online (www.gov.uk/apply-free-childcare-if-youre-working) for an eligibility code that you will then need to send to us so that we are aware that you wish to claim.

​

We will need to have received the eligibility code before the beginning of term, so eligible parents should apply for their code at least a month before that date so as to ensure that the code is available in time. 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​