How to use your 30 hours of free childcare entitlement
You can use your 30 hours:
- between 6am and 8pm
- for a maximum of 10 hours a day.
Providers will have their own pattern of delivery (hours and days) for the entitlement. Contact your childcare provider directly to see which patterns they offer the early education and childcare funding in.
Split your hours
You can split your 30 hours between providers. For example, a nursery and a childminder. Both must be signed up to deliver this funding, however, you can't use more than 2 sites each day. The providers must be willing to work together. You also don't have to use the whole 30 hours.
Not all providers can be flexible in how they offer the funded hours. So, check with your chosen provider to make sure their offer suits your needs.
Stretch your funding
Some providers may offer a stretched pattern of hours. This means, you get fewer hours each week, but for more weeks of the year. You will need to discuss this with your chosen provider if this is something they offer.
If your childcare provider offers the working parent entitlement stretched over 48 weeks, the hours will reduce to 24 hours per week. If this is the case, you will exceed your entitlement hours of 1140 by 12 hours. Your childcare provider should inform you of this and that you can either remove your child for 12 hours or your child can remain at the setting and you would be charged for the additional hours at the childcare provider’s rate.
When a provider is not open for the full 38 weeks, you cannot claim more than 30 hours each week over fewer weeks of the year. If you choose a provider that is open for fewer than 38 weeks of the year you will not receive your full entitlement.
Headcount week
Your child must attend their specified hours during Kent headcount week to claim Working Parent Entitlement for the term.
Your child's attendance during headcount week determines the funded hours your provider can claim for.
If you have not claimed the full hours during headcount, you cannot increase the number of the working parent entitlement hours your child attends at any point in the term.
To find out when the headcount week is, talk to your childcare provider.
Late joiners
You can claim funded hours if your child:
- is moving to Kent from another local authority after headcount week and not in a grace period or
- has not claimed at another setting in Kent during that academic period and not in a grace period.
Grace periods
If you or your partner (if applicable) no longer meet the criteria, you will stop being eligible for this childcare entitlement.
There will be a grace period, normally until the start of the next funded period to enable you to seek employment. If your circumstances change during the grace period, you can apply again and continue to use your entitlement.
Your child cannot start a new childcare place at a provider during a grace period. This includes when a parent:
- has fallen into their grace period before their child has started their childcare place
- seeks to move their child to a different provider, when they have already fallen into their grace period.