Information for practitioners about the early years funded entitlements
Information for practitioners about the early years funded entitlements
- Working family entitlement for 9-months to 4-years
- 2-year-old funding for families receiving additional government support
- 3- and 4-year-olds
- Applying for 30 hours for children in foster care
If you’re a parent or carer looking for more information, visit the childcare section.
Working family entitlement for 9-months to 4-years
Working families who have children aged 9-months to 4-years could receive up to 30 funded hours per week (38 weeks).
Families should apply through the Best Start in Life website.
Eligibility criteria
The parents must meet one of the following criteria:
- Both parents are working (or sole parent in a lone parent family) and each parent earns on average:
- a weekly minimum equivalent to 16 hours at national minimum wage (NMW) for under 25-year-olds, or;
- national living wage (NLW) if over 25-years-old, and;
- less than £100,000 per year
- Both parents or carers are employed but 1 or both parents or carers is temporarily away from the workplace on parental, maternity, paternity or adoption leave or statutory sick pay, or;
- 1 parent or carer is employed, and the other parent or carer has substantial caring responsibilities based on specific benefits received for caring, or;
- 1 parent or carer is employed, and 1 parent or carer is disabled or incapacitated based on receipt of specific benefits
If eligible, they will receive an 11-digit eligibility code which must be taken to their chosen provider and entered onto the Parental Declaration Form before their child takes up a funded early years and childcare place.
The family can only start claiming their funded entitlement in the term after the child has turned 9 months. For example, for the Autumn term, the child needs to have turned 9 months by 31 August; for the Spring term, by 31 December; and for the Summer term, by 31 March.
Information for families in receipt of carers allowance
For joint applications - carer allowance is only available to a family where at least one working parent meets the qualifying income levels and the other parent is in receipt of a qualifying benefit, including carers allowance or the carer’s element of Universal Credit (it does not matter who they care for).
For single applications - the parent must meet income requirements, regardless of whether they are in receipt of qualifying benefits.
Reconfirmation
The parents must go onto the Childcare Choices website and reconfirm their eligibility every 3 months to ensure the validity of their code.
The parents must reapply by:
- 31 March for the summer term
- 31 August for the autumn term
- 31 December for the spring term
If they miss the reconfirmation deadline, they’ll receive a message telling them that their eligibility has lapsed. They should go into their childcare account and reconfirm.
If they are no longer eligible for the funded entitlement, they will enter a grace period where they may be able to retain their entitlement for a short period of time.
Please note: new children cannot take up a place with a provider if they are currently in their grace period.
Providers should remind parents to check codes:
- when they are in their grace period
- if the end date for eligibility is that term
2-year-old funding for families receiving additional government support
Some 2-year-olds whose parents receive additional government support could be eligible for 15 hours funded childcare per week (38 weeks per year), the term after their child turns 2.
This is a different stream of 2-year-old funding to 2-year-old funding for children of working families.
Eligibility criteria
If the family claims any one of the following, their 2-year-old could be eligible:
- Universal Credit, and your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax and NI contributions, not including benefits (assessed on the three most recent assessment periods)
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit and your household income is £16,190 a year or less before tax (but not both) (TC602 Final Award Notice)
- The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
Non-economic criteria
2-year-olds could also be eligible if they meet any of the following non-economic criteria:
- attract Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
- are looked after by their local authority
- have left care through special guardianship, adoption or a residence order
- have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
No recourse to public funds families
If a parent’s immigration status says they have ‘no recourse to public funds’, they may be eligible for the 2-year-old funding. They must live in England and their household income must be no more than:
- £26,500 for families outside of London with 1 child
- £30,600 for families outside of London with 2 or more children
They cannot have more than £16,000 in savings or investments.
Documentation will be required as proof where an application is made against these additional criteria.
How to apply
Families who may be eligible should be encouraged to complete an online application form or contact the Family Information Service on telephone: 01904 554444 to complete an application over the phone.
If eligible, the family will receive a 6-digit voucher code from the local authority which must be taken to their chosen provider and entered onto the Parental Declaration Form before their child takes up a funded early years and childcare place.
Please note: If circumstances change, the family will not lose eligibility for this stream of 2-year-old funding. This is not the case for the working family entitlement, as parents are required to confirm their circumstances every 3 months.
3- and 4-year-olds
All families with children aged 3- and 4-years-old can receive up to 15 funded hours per week (38 weeks) during the term after their child turns 3. This is a national, universal offer for all families and there is no application form or code required. Childcare providers should ask parents and carers to complete a Parent Declaration Form.
Working families may be eligible to receive up to 30 hours funded childcare per week during term time, the term after their child turns 3.
Visit Best Start in Life website for further information.
Applying for 30 hours for children in foster care
Children in foster care can receive 30 hours of childcare if the foster carers meet the eligibility criteria below and it is consistent with the child’s care plan. The foster carer should apply for a 30 hours code via their local authority and speak to their supervising social worker before completing an application.
- City of York Council is the corporate parent of the child; if the corporate parent is in another local authority, you must contact them for an application form
- the child is age eligible for the funded entitlement (term after turning 9 months)
- it is in the child’s care plan that attending a childcare setting for the additional hours is in their best interest
- all foster carers in the household are working outside of fostering, or if a couple, at least one carer is working and the other carer is in receipt of a qualifying benefit
- the foster carers are EEA or Swiss nationals with EU Settled Status (EUSS), or are in the process of applying for or appealing EUSS
- the foster carers must live in England
- the foster carers are working but earning less than £100,000 net per year, or
- non-foster parents in the household must meet the standard criteria for a 30-hour code:
- working and earning the equivalent of 16 hours per week at the minimum wage or national living wage;
- earning less than £100,000 per year; and
- EEA or Swiss nationals with EU Settled Status (EUSS), in the process of applying for or appealing EUSS, or holding a visa allowing access to public funds
To apply for 30 hours funding for a child in care, there is an application form specific to this group. For more information, visit 30 hours of funded childcare for foster children.
