England

30 Hours Free Childcare in England: Am I Eligible and How Do I Apply?

ChildcareHub Editorial21 April 202611 min read

The funded childcare offer in England has changed more in the last two years than at any point in its history. Since September 2025, working parents have been able to claim 30 hours of funded childcare a week from the term after their child turns nine months old, all the way through to school age. That is a significant shift from the old system, where 30 hours only kicked in at age three.

This guide walks through who is eligible, how to apply, what the funding actually covers, and the small but expensive mistakes that catch parents out every year.

What is "30 hours free childcare"?

Despite the branding, the entitlement is best thought of as funded rather than free. The government pays your childcare provider an hourly rate for a set number of hours; what counts as "free" depends on whether your provider's normal fees match that rate, and whether they charge for extras such as meals or nappies. We will come back to that.

There are two separate funded offers in England, and it helps to understand how they fit together.

The universal entitlement gives every three- and four-year-old in England 15 hours of funded early education a week, regardless of household income or working status. This is the offer that has existed for years and is sometimes called the "universal 15 hours".

The working parent entitlement (the offer commonly referred to as "30 hours free childcare") gives eligible working families an additional 15 hours on top, taking the total to 30 hours a week. As of September 2025, this is available from the term after a child turns nine months until they start school.

Both offers are based on 38 weeks a year (term-time only). That works out to 1,140 hours a year for the working parent entitlement. Many providers will let you "stretch" those hours over more weeks at fewer hours per week, which suits families who need year-round childcare.

Who is eligible for the working parent entitlement?

The eligibility test is run by HMRC when you apply, and it has three main parts.

1. Your child's age

Your child must be at least nine months old. Funding starts from the term after they turn nine months. The English school year has three funding terms:

Term	Funding starts	Apply from
Spring	1 January	When your child is 23 weeks old
Summer	1 April	When your child is 23 weeks old
Autumn	1 September	When your child is 23 weeks old

You can apply up to 16 weeks before your child becomes eligible. So if you want funding from January, you should apply by 31 December at the latest, and ideally earlier.

2. Your work and income

You, and your partner if you have one, must each:

Expect to earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the National Minimum or National Living Wage over the next three months
Have an adjusted net income of less than £100,000 a year

Both conditions matter. The earnings test is a floor; the £100,000 threshold is a ceiling.

The £100,000 limit is applied to each parent individually, not to household income. A couple who each earn £99,000 (so £198,000 between them) will qualify. A single parent earning £100,001, or a couple where one earner is on £100,001 and the other earns £30,000, will not. This creates a cliff edge that catches a lot of higher-earning families out, particularly around bonuses or pay rises.

Adjusted net income is your taxable income after allowable deductions such as pension contributions and Gift Aid donations. If you are close to the £100,000 line, increasing your pension contributions can bring you back below the threshold and protect your eligibility. This is worth speaking to an accountant about if it applies to you.

Self-employment income counts towards the earnings test. So does income from agency work, zero-hours contracts, and second jobs.

3. Your immigration and residency status

You must be living in England, and you (and your partner) must have a National Insurance number. Your immigration status must allow you to access public funds. Most British and Irish citizens, and people with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, will qualify.

What if you are not working?

The working parent entitlement is, by design, for working families. But there are exceptions that allow non-working parents to qualify, including:

One parent works and the other is on statutory maternity, paternity, adoption or shared parental leave
One parent works and the other receives Carer's Allowance, contributory Employment and Support Allowance, or Incapacity Benefit
One parent works and the other is unable to work because of disability

If you are a single parent and not working, you will not qualify for the additional 15 hours, but your three- or four-year-old will still get the universal 15 hours from the term after their third birthday.

There is also a separate scheme for two-year-olds whose families receive certain benefits, which provides 15 funded hours a week. Eligibility is based on benefit claims rather than work status.

How to apply: step by step

Applications are handled through the government's Childcare Service. You will need around 30 minutes and the following information to hand: your National Insurance number, your partner's National Insurance number if applicable, the date you started your most recent job, your expected income for the next three months, and your child's date of birth.

The process works like this:

Step 1: Apply online. Go to gov.uk and search for "Childcare Service" or "Free childcare for working parents". Sign in with your Government Gateway account, or create one if you do not have it.

Step 2: Receive your eligibility code. If you qualify, you will be issued an 11-digit code. Keep this safe; you need to give it to your nursery or childminder along with your National Insurance number and your child's date of birth.

Step 3: Give the code to your provider. Your provider will validate the code with the local authority and will then claim the funding on your behalf. There is no money that passes through your hands.

Step 4: Reconfirm every three months. Once you have a code, you must log back into the Childcare Service every three months to confirm your details are still correct. The service will email you a reminder, but the responsibility sits with you. Miss this and your eligibility lapses.

Find a funded place near you: Use ChildcareHub's search tool to filter nurseries and childminders by location and check which providers accept funded hours.

What the funding actually covers

This is where many parents are caught out. The funding pays for early education and childcare during the funded hours, full stop. It does not cover meals, nappies, sun cream, formula milk, additional activities such as Forest School sessions, or any hours beyond the entitlement.

Top-up fees are not allowed

Since April 2025, the Department for Education has been clear that providers cannot charge a "top-up fee" to bridge the gap between the funding rate and their normal hourly fee. If a nursery's standard rate is £8 an hour and the local authority pays them £6 an hour for funded children, the nursery cannot ask you to pay the £2 difference for funded hours. New invoicing rules to enforce this came fully into effect in January 2026.

Consumables and optional extras can be charged

Providers can charge for genuinely optional things alongside the funded hours, such as:

Meals and snacks
Nappies, wipes, and sun cream
Trips and special activities
Additional sessions beyond the funded hours

These charges must be optional. A provider cannot make payment for consumables a condition of accessing a funded place, and they must offer parents the choice to provide their own meals or nappies if they prefer.

In practice, many parents find the consumables and meal charges add up to a meaningful weekly bill. Always ask for a written breakdown before you sign anything, and compare what different providers charge.

Not every nursery offers funded places

Most nurseries and childminders accept funded hours, but some do not, particularly higher-end private settings whose normal fees are well above the funding rate. If a setting tells you they do not accept funded hours at all, this is legal, but it does mean you would need to pay for the entire cost yourself. Always ask early in the conversation.

Common pitfalls

Missing the reconfirmation deadline

This is the single most common reason parents lose their entitlement. Reconfirmation happens every three months, on a date set when you first applied. Set a calendar reminder, and check your spam folder for the Childcare Service emails.

If you miss the deadline and have already lost eligibility (for example, because of a job change), you may enter a grace period where funding continues for a short time while you sort out your situation. The grace period varies depending on when you fell out of eligibility relative to the term, but it is typically until the end of the next funded term. Once that period ends, your funded hours stop.

Applying too late for the term you want

Codes need to be in place before the start of term, not at the start of term. If you apply in late August hoping to start in September, you may find your code does not arrive in time. Apply at least four weeks before the term you want to use, and longer in busy periods.

Assuming the universal 15 hours covers the gap

If your three- or four-year-old loses the working parent entitlement, the universal 15 hours kicks in automatically. But if your child is under three and you lose eligibility, there is no universal entitlement to fall back on. You will pay full fees for any hours your child attends.

Not understanding the £100,000 cliff edge

A pay rise or bonus that pushes one parent over £100,000 wipes out the entire entitlement, even if household income is otherwise modest. If you are close to the threshold, watch this carefully across the tax year, and consider salary sacrifice arrangements if appropriate.

Confusing funded hours with Tax-Free Childcare

These are two different schemes and you can use both at once for the hours that are not funded. Tax-Free Childcare gives you a 20% top-up on what you pay (capped at £2,000 a year per child) and is administered through the same Childcare Service account. Make sure you are claiming everything you are entitled to.

How does this affect what you actually pay?

The honest answer is: it depends. The funding rate set by your local authority may be lower than your nursery's hourly fee. You cannot be charged a top-up, but consumables and any hours beyond the funded ones are at full price. Providers have responded to the funding gap by charging more for meals, sessions outside the entitlement, and optional extras.

For most families, the net effect is still a substantial saving. Parents using the full 30 hours often see their weekly bill drop by 50% to 80% compared with paying for the same hours unfunded. But it is rarely "free" in the literal sense.

Estimate your monthly bill: Try our childcare cost calculator to see how funded hours, consumables, and any extra sessions might add up for your family.

Next steps

The funded childcare landscape rewards parents who understand the rules. If you are starting from scratch:

Check eligibility now at gov.uk, even if your child is months away from being old enough. The Childcare Service lets you apply from 23 weeks before your child becomes eligible.
Search for nurseries near you on ChildcareHub, where each listing notes whether the provider accepts funded hours.
Compare costs in your area with our childcare cost calculator.
Read our choosing a nursery checklist before booking visits, particularly the questions to ask about top-up policies and consumables.
Understand the Ofsted ratings you will see on every listing, including the new report card format introduced in November 2025.
In Wales? Read our guide to funded childcare hours in Wales, which works differently from the English system.