Expansion to Early Years Funding from April 2024

The government plans to offer 30 hours funded childcare to working parents of children aged 9 months upwards by September 2025. This will be rolled out in the following stages:

• April 2024 - eligible working parents of 2-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of funded childcare
• September 2024 - eligible working parents of children aged 9 months to 2-years-old will be able to access 15 hours of funded childcare
• September 2025 - eligible working parents of children from 9 months to school age will be able to access 30 hours of funded childcare

The funded hours can be used during term-time over 38 weeks of the year. Some providers offer a 'stretched entitlement', meaning children can use less hours over more weeks (the total amount of funded hours remains the same).

The current 15 hours funding for eligible 2-year-olds and the 30 hours funding for eligible 3 and 4-year-olds will remain the same.

The eligibility criteria for expanded funding offers is the same as the current 30 hours funding offer for 3 and 4-year-olds.

You can make an application for both of the entitlements but children will only be able to access one of the funding offers at a time. If your child is eligible for the current 15 hours funding offer then it is recommended that you apply for this offer and then apply for the 30 hours funding offer once your child turns 3 years old.

Applications for the expanded funding offers will be made in the same way as the current 30 hours funding offer for 3 and 4-year-olds. Applications will be made to HMRC by creating a Government Gateway account or contacting the Childcare Service Helpline.

The funding offers will work in the same way as the current 30 hours offer meaning children must have a valid eligibility codes before the start of the term in which you wish to use the code. Like the current 30 hours offer, the eligibility codes also need re-confirmed every 3 months to ensure your child can continue accessing their funded childcare hours.