Funded childcare places for eligible 2 year olds

Your 2-year-old can get free childcare if you live in England and get one of the following benefits:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Universal Credit, and your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax, not including benefit payments
• Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit (or both), and your household income is £16,190 a year or less before tax
• the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• the Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)

2-year-olds can also get free childcare if they:

• are looked after by a local authority
• have an education, health and care (EHC) plan
• get Disability Living Allowance
• have left care under an adoption order, special guardianship order or a child arrangements order

If you’re a non-EEA citizen who cannot claim benefits

If your immigration status says you have ‘no recourse to public funds’, you may still get funded childcare for your 2-year-old if you have less than £16,000 in savings or investments and your household income is no more than:

• £26,500 for families with one child
• £30,600 for families with two or more children

If you have NRPF, please complete the below application form instead.

2YO Application Form - NRPF

Download (70KB - DOCX)

To support your application, we require:

• evidence proof of yours and your partner’s (if you have one) NRPF status in the form of:
• a share code to allow us to check your immigration status digitally or
• a copy of your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP)
• evidence of your income and savings in the form of:
• three months’ worth of bank statements for yourself and your partner.

Your application form and evidence of NRPF status, income and savings must be returned to: 2yearoldfunding@doncaster.gov.uk

You can apply to see if your child is eligible during the term in which they turn 2-years-old. Please refer to the table below for more information. 

If your child's 2nd birthday is on or between:	Earliest date you can see if your eligible from:
1 January - 31 March	beginning of January
1 April - 31 August	beginning of April
1 September - 31 December	beginning of September

Please do not make an application prior to the earliest date shown above.

Your child's eligibility code will be valid from the term after their 2nd birthday.

If your child's 2nd birthday is on or between:	He/she will be entitled to their funded place from (the term after the child's 2nd birthday):
1 January - 31 March	Summer term (April onwards)
1 April - 31 August	Autumn term (September onwards)
1 September - 31 December	Spring term (January onwards)

You can apply by using our online application form below.

2 Year Old Funding Application

Before making your application, please ensure that it isn't too early to apply. See 'When should I apply to see if my child is eligible' for more information. 

If you have NRPF, please complete the below application form instead.

2YO Application Form - NRPF

Download (70KB - DOCX)

To support your application, we require:

• evidence proof of yours and your partner’s (if you have one) NRPF status in the form of:
• a share code to allow us to check your immigration status digitally or
• a copy of your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP)
• evidence of your income and savings in the form of:
• three months’ worth of bank statements for yourself and your partner.

Your application form and evidence of NRPF status, income and savings must be returned to: 2yearoldfunding@doncaster.gov.uk

Once your application has been processed you will receive a letter confirming whether your child is eligible and explaining what you need to do to take up the offer. You will need to take this letter to your chosen childcare provider as proof of your eligibility. 

You need to decide which funded childcare provider you would like your child to go to and call them to see if they have availability - you can use the Families Information Service (FIS) Childcare Finder to find a list of funded childcare providers.

You then need to take your eligibility letter to your chosen childcare provider so they can use your eligibility code to claim the funding for your child.

If your child has already been awarded the funding, this will not be taken away from them, even if your circumstances change. Your child will be able to continue to access the funding until the term after their 3rd birthday, when they will then be eligible for the universal 15 hours. 

If your child isn’t eligible for the funding and your circumstances have changed, you can apply to see if you are now eligible using the methods stated in the ‘How do I apply to see if my child is eligible?’ section above.

You can see what providers are available by using the FIS Childcare and Schools Finder.

You can contact the Families Information Service to have providers sent via email on fis@doncaster.gov.uk - all queries will be responded to within three working days

Your child's early education place is paid for by the Government, however, schools/childcare providers can charge for meals, consumables (such as nappies and sun cream), additional activities (such as trips) or additional hours (hours that are taken over and above the funded entitlement hours). Where a parent chooses to pay for meals, consumables or additional hours, this is a private arrangement between the parent and the school/childcare provider. 

Parent must not be required to pay any fee as a condition of taking up a funded early education place.

Schools/childcare providers should be open and transparent about any additional charges, so parents have a clear choice and know the cost of any extras they may wish to purchase. Parents should also be made aware of the options available to them if they do not wish to purchase any extras, for example a parent may supply their own consumables or a meal / snack for their child. 

You can move your child's early education funding at the start of each term (January, April, September) before headcount date; if you choose to move your child to another childcare setting before headcount date then you may incur fees for the childcare accessed with the original childcare provider.

In special circumstances, we may allow you to move your child's funding after headcount.

Headcount day is a date set each term when children accessing their early education funding in early years settings are counted. This information is submitted to Doncaster Council so we can pay the setting for your child’s funded childcare.

Your child will be still be counted, if headcount day falls on a day that your child doesn’t normally attend, as long as they attend their regular days during the week. Your child will also still be counted if they have accessed funding this term but are temporarily away from the setting on headcount day/ the week headcount day takes place, e.g. if your child is unable to attend during the week because they’re ill.

If you have moved to Doncaster and you can no longer access your child’s existing funded childcare place then you will need to contact us. We will need to verify that your child is eligible for the funding, either by seeing a copy of your eligibility letter from your old local authority, carrying out a new eligibility check or confirming with your old local authority that your child was eligible for the funding. Once we have done this, we can issue you with a Doncaster eligibility code and letter. This can be given to your new childcare provider so they can claim the funding from us.

If you have moved into the area partway through the term then, depending on the date, you may need to seek approval for your child to access the funding during the current term. To do this, you can contact us by emailing earlyeducation@doncaster.gov.uk

Example

You move to Doncaster in November and wish to use the funding immediately. As this is partway through the term, you may need approval for your child to access their funding that term. If you wanted your child to start their funding from January, you wouldn’t need approval from us as this is the start of a new term.

If you’re moving out of Doncaster and your child will no longer be able to access their existing childcare place then you will need to contact your new local authority to determine when your child can use their funding with a new childcare provider.

If you wish to use the funding partway through the term then it is the new local authority’s decision whether or not they will allow this.

The new local authority will need to verify your child is eligible for the funding; they may do this by carrying out a new eligibility check, asking to see evidence of your previous eligibility or contacting us so we can confirm your child’s was eligible for the funding.