This page will outline the additional avenue of support when it comes to your childcare costs. If you are not eligible for some of the Early Years funding streams, you may be able to access support through the following avenues. Some of the following can be used in conjunction with the funding streams.
You can set up an online childcare account to help with the costs of childcare. The government will pay £2 for every £8 you pay into this account. You can get up to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year), for each of your children. This increases to £1,000 every 3 months if a child is disabled (up to £4,000 a year). You can get tax-free childcare at the same time as 15 or 30 hours free childcare if you are eligible for both. What you can use tax-free childcare for: You can use it to pay for approved childcare e.g. childminders, nurseries and nannies, after school clubs and play schemes. Your childcare provider must be signed up to the scheme before you can pay them and benefit from tax-free childcare. Please check with your provider to see if they are signed up. Eligibility: You can usually get tax-free childcare if you (and your partner, if you have one) are in work, on sick leave or annual leave or on shared parental, maternity, paternity or adoption leave and you are going back to work within 31 days of the date you first applied. You may still be eligible if your partner is working and you are in receipt of Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Carer’s Allowance or contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance. Your child: Your child must be 11 or under and usually live with you. They stop being eligible on 1 September after their 11th birthday. Adopted children are eligible, but foster children are not. If your child is disabled and usually lives with you, they stop being eligible on 1 September after their 16th birthday. Criteria includes: You cannot get tax-free childcare at the same time as claiming Universal Credit or childcare vouchers. You may be able to claim back up to 85 per cent of your childcare costs if you are eligible for Universal Credit. It is available to families where single parents, or two parent families are both in paid work or have an offer of paid work. How could this help your child? The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) is extra funding that nurseries, childminders, and other early years settings can receive for children aged 9 months to 4 years who may need additional support. This money helps give children the best start by paying for things like: The aim is to help children who may be at a disadvantage to make good progress and be confident and ready for school. It is part of Ofsted’s role to assess how well early years providers have used these funds to improve your child's education, and you may see comments about this on the early years provider’s Ofsted report card. Do I qualify? Children over the age of 9 months are eligible if they receive government funded early years childcare and their parents or carers are in receipt of specific benefits. Further information on getting extra early years funding. How do I apply? You do not need to apply for EYPP. If you are eligible, our system will pick this up and automatically apply it to your child's funding. Your provider will be able to confirm your eligibility when they have added your child to our funding system. The disability access fund (DAF) provides financial support to help children with disabilities or special educational needs (SEND) to access and fully participate in their early years provision, by enabling providers to make reasonable adjustments and put appropriate support in place. The funding can be used to buy resources, provide staff training or put in place other support to meet a child’s needs. The funding can benefit an individual child and can also help strengthen the setting's ability to support other children with additional needs, promoting a more inclusive learning environment for all. You could get weekly payments through Care to Learn if you are under 20 at the start of a publicly-funded course, for example at school or sixth form. You can get Care to Learn if all of the following apply to you: If you’re aged 19 or over, on a further education course and facing financial hardship, you could get Learner Support. Learner Support can help pay for things you need to attend your course or study that are not covered by your course fees. You may be eligible for help with your childcare costs if you: The grant: You may be eligible for help with your learning costs if you are a full-time student with children. How much you get depends on your household income. The allowance:
Tax-free childcare
Universal Credit and childcare
Early Years Pupil Premium
Disability Access Fund
Care to Learn
Learner Support
Childcare Grant
Parents’ Learning Allowance