From September 2025, working families will be able to access up to 30 hours of funded childcare per week, right up until their child starts school.
This exciting expansion means many parents can now cover a significant portion of their childcare needs during the working week, helping to balance work and family life more. easily.
Parents are able to set up an online account where they can bank payments for childcare. For each £8 you pay in, the Government will add an additional £2 up to a maximum of £2,000 per year per child. Families of disabled children receive help with their childcare costs to a maximum of £4,000 per year.
To qualify, each parent needs to earn a minimum equivalent to 16 hours a week at the national minimum wage but less than £100,000 annually.
All parents of children aged 3 to 4 are entitled to 15 hours of funded childcare, for 38 weeks of the year, adding up to 570 hours annually.
Working parents with babies starting from 9 months old may be eligible for 15 hours of childcare funding, extending to 30 hours from September 2025. Parents must work at least 16 hours weekly at the national minimum wage and have an annual income not exceeding £100,000. Find more details via the Gov.UK website.
Yes, availability can vary and places will get booked up, so it’s a good idea to reserve early.
Essential Extras enhance your child’s overall experience with us, offering valuable additions that go beyond standard care. These may include: Nutritious meals and snacks, Consumables such as nappies and sun cream and Extra-curricular activities, like cookery clubs. We recommend speaking with the nursery manager to understand what is included.
The ‘stretching’ option allows you to spread your funded hours over more weeks by using fewer hours each week, providing increased flexibility to match your family’s schedule. Traditionally allocated over the 38 weeks of term time, you have the option to extend this schedule to cover up to a 51-week period. By doing so, the weekly hours adjust to approximately 11 hours.
Yes, you can use Universal Credit alongside the 15/30 hours childcare scheme, maximising your childcare support. Please note that Universal Credit cannot be used in conjunction with Tax-Free Childcare.
Children are eligible for Tax-Free Childcare until the 1st of September following their 11th birthday.
The Cherry Childcare Day Nursery & Pre-school group was founded in 1993. We are dedicated to providing quality daycare through our outstanding early years practitioners and educators, training, and facilities in order to achieve the best childcare and early years learning results.
