Eligibility

You will generally be eligible for the 30-hour funding entitlement if:

• You are a parent of a child who is three or four years old (and under compulsory school age)
• Both parents are working (or the sole parent is working, in a lone parent family), this includes employed, self-employed and zero hours contract work
• Each parent expects to earn, on average, a weekly minimum equivalent to 16 hours at national minimum wage (NMW) or national living wage (NLW), and less than £100,000 per year.

 

For two parent families, children will also be entitled if:

• both parents are employed but one or both parents is temporarily away from the workplace on parental, maternity, paternity or adoption leave
• both parents are employed but one or both parents are away from the workplace on statutory sick pay
• one parent is employed and the other has substantial caring responsibilities (and receiving specific benefits for caring)
• one parent is employed and the other is disabled or incapacitated (and receiving specific benefits)

 

You will not meet the criteria if:

• You (or your partner) have a net income of more than £100,000
• You (and your partner) are non-EEA national and subject to immigration control and the parent applying does not have recourse to public funds.

How to apply

Eligibility for the 30 hours funding is determined by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

Parents need to apply for the 30 hours funding themselves via the Childcare Choices website:

www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

You will need your details (and your partner’s, if you have one), including your:

• National Insurance number
• Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), if you’re self-employed

If you pay for childcare and want to use Tax-Free Childcare to get help with costs, you can also apply using this service.

If you are eligible, you will be given an 11-digit code that you will need to provide us with along with your national insurance number and your child’s birth certificate.