We provide childcare for 3-4 year olds in environment where they learn best and places where they can explore, in their own way. All 3 to 4-year-olds in England can get 570 free hours per year. It’s usually taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year, but you can choose to take fewer hours over more weeks, for example. You can get it from the term after your child’s 3rd birthday.
From the term after your child’s third birthday, he or she can have up to 15 hours a week of funded flexible early years childcare and education. This is called the Funded Early Years Education and it is paid for by the government. All 3-4 year olds are eligible.
All parents of 3 and 4 year olds are entitled to 15 hours universal funded childcare. Eligible working families can get an additional 15 hours if they meet the prescribed eligibility criteria. This makes a total of 30 hours funded childcare per week (up to a maximum of 1140 hours per year).
Parents of three and four year olds will need to meet the following criteria in order to be eligible for 30 hours funded childcare:
- They earn or expect to earn the equivalent to 16 hours at National Minimum or Living Wage over the coming three months (you can see current National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates on GOV.UK)
- This applies whether you are in paid employment, self-employed or on zero hour’s contract.
- The parent (and their partner where applicable) should be seeking the funded childcare to enable them to work.
- Where one or both parents are on maternity, paternity, shared parental or adoption leave, or if they are on statutory sick leave.
- Where one parent meets the income criteria and the other is unable to work because they are disabled, have caring responsibilities or have been assessed as having limited capability to work.
- Where a parent is in a ‘start-up period’ (i.e. they are newly self-employed) they do not need to demonstrate that they meet the income criteria for 12 months.