Working Parent Entitlement for 3 and 4 year olds (30 hours)

If you are an eligible working parent, you can apply for 30 hours of funded childcare for your 3 or 4-year-old. This is also known as additional or extended hours. This funding is a combination of 15 universal hours and 15 additional hours.

If you apply more than 3 months before the new term, you must reconfirm your details. You must do this by the end of the month before the term starts. This is to make sure you are still eligible.

Some childcare providers may offer fewer hours a week over more weeks of a year (up to 1,140 hours). We call this stretched funding.

The Department for Education sets the dates for when children become eligible by age.

Dates and application deadlines

Here are the dates to apply by, depending on when your child turns 3.

HMRC determines who is eligible for this funding, not us.

We administer the entitlements based on the guidance from the Department for Education. The guidance states that applicants must apply for and receive eligibility codes by set dates. This allows us to apply for the funding for the current term. Dates are as shown above.

Codes applied for and received after this date will not be eligible to receive funded childcare until the following term (if the child is also in the eligible age range at this point). Note that you may also need to reconfirm again before the following term. View the section about reconfirming for further information.

The guidance is also clear that codes need to be re confirmed by the dates provided to families from HMRC for us to be able to apply the funding for a current term. View the section about reconfirming and grace periods for further information.

Eligibility

To qualify for a childcare code, you must meet the eligibility criteria. This is set by the government. The criteria includes and is dependent on:

• your child’s age
• how much you earn
• whether you're starting a new job
• if you are on shared parental, maternity, paternity, or adoption leave
• if you’re not currently working
• if you’re self-employed
• if you have more than one job
• your immigration status.

Visit the government's Best Start In Life website for information on eligibility and cost of childcare support.

How to use your funded childcare

You need to make sure you know how you can use your free 15 hours of childcare. This includes:

• splitting your hours
• stretch funding
• when to use your funding.

Summary for additional costs

The funding is for early education and childcare only. It is meant to deliver 30 hours of funded, high-quality childcare.

Learn more about the additional costs you may have to pay

Apply

You can apply for both the 30-hours and Tax-Free Childcare using a single application.

You must apply for and receive your new 30 hour eligibility code before the start of the academic period. The dates are:

• 31 August to start claiming the entitlement in September
• 31 December to start claiming the entitlement in January
• 31 March to start claiming the entitlement in April.

Find out more on how you can apply

Next steps

If your code is valid for the term, your provider will ask you to complete the parental declaration form. This form shows you how many hours funding you are going to claim. Make sure that you read through this form prior to signing. If you are claiming funding over two settings, the number of hours and funding type should show both on each form that you sign.

If after checking the validity of your code the provider informs you that it is not valid, follow the steps below.

1. Make sure that your childcare provider has the correct details.
2. Did you apply or reconfirm in time? Check your secure messages in your gateway account.
3. If you have checked that your provider is entering the correct details and you have applied or reconfirmed in time for the term, email kentcfis@theeducationpeole.org for further support.
4. If your code is not valid as you did not reconfirm in time because you did not receive your reminders from HMRC, you will have to raise this directly with them by calling them on the Childcare Services helpline on 0300 123 4097. You can raise a complaint with them if you did not receive your reminders.
5. If you were unable to apply or re confirm due to technical issues on their system, you would need to raise this with HMRC directly on 0300 123 4097. If you are not able to claim the funding due to this you may be able to receive compensation.

Contact us

If you have any further questions about the childcare you're entitled to, contact us via: