Eligibility

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Working parents

If you live and work in England you may be entitled to 15 hours funded childcare support from the term after your child turns 9 months old, until they start school. 

From the term after your child's 3rd birthday, this can be combined with the 15 hour entitlement for all 3 and 4 year olds to make up 30 hours of funded support over 38 weeks of the year.

You can usually get funded childcare for working parents if you (and your partner, if you have one) are:

• in work or starting a new job
• on sick leave or annual leave
• on shared parental, maternity, paternity or adoption leave

The amount of funded childcare you can get depends on:

• your child’s age and circumstances
• your income (and your partner’s income, if you have one)
• your immigration status

If your child is 2 years old and receiving some additional forms of support, they may be entitled to 15 hours early learning under a separate scheme. If you meet both sets of eligibility criteria, you must apply through the 15 hours early learning scheme. To apply for this scheme, you will need to contact your childcare provider or your local council.

Your earnings

Over the next 3 months you and your partner (if you have one) must each expect to earn at least:

• £2,380 before tax if you’re aged 21 or over (equivalent to £183 per week)
• £1,788 before tax if you’re aged 18 to 20 (equivalent to £137 per week)
• £1,331 before tax if you’re under 18 or an apprentice (equivalent to £102 per week)

This is equivalent to the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage for 16 hours a week, on average.

This table may help you identify if you meet the required income threshold:  

You can earn up to £100,000 adjusted net income per year and be eligible. If you or your partner have an expected adjusted net income over £100,000 in the current tax year, you will not be eligible. 

You can use an average of how much you expect to earn over the current tax year if:

• you work throughout the year but do not get paid regularly
• you’re self-employed and do not expect to earn enough in the next 3 months

If you have a partner who lives with you, they must also earn between these two amounts.  

If you’re self-employed and started your business less than 12 months ago, you can earn less and still be eligible for funded childcare for working parents.

If you have more than one job, you can use your total earnings to work out if you meet the threshold. This includes:

• earnings from any employment
• earnings from any self-employment

If you’re both employed and self-employed, you can use just your self-employment income if this would make you eligible. For example, if you expect your average self-employed earnings over the tax year to be more than you’ll get over the next 3 months as an employee.

Certain types of income will not count towards the minimum amount you must earn to be eligible. These include:

• dividends
• interest
• income from investing in property
• pension payments

How it works with maternity, paternity, shared parental or adoption leave

If you are on some form of parental leave and applying for an older child, who is not the subject of the parental leave, you can apply online at GOV.UK.

If you are applying for the child that is the subject of the parental leave, the date that you return to work from parental leave will affect when you can take up the childcare. The below dates apply: 

Parents in this situation will need to apply online. Your application may show as ‘pending’ but you will then receive a letter in the post within 1 to 2 weeks, enabling you to access your entitlement. 

If one parent is starting or returning to work within one month of the start of term (that is, 30 September, 31 January or 30 April), while the other parent remains on parental leave until a later date, then you would be eligible to apply.

If you are on paid annual leave and receiving your salary as normal, this counts as having returned to work for the purposes of eligibility for the working parent entitlement.

Starting a new job

Parents who are planning to start new work can apply. The following dates apply: 

To apply, you will need to start your application on GOV.UK as normal. If it is more than 31 days before the date on which you are starting work, you will then need to call HMRC’s childcare service helpline to be guided through the rest of the process to receive your code. 

If you are starting work more than one month after the start of term, you will be able to apply to start using the entitlements from the start of the following term.

Your immigration status

To be eligible for funded childcare for working parents, you (and your partner if you have one and if they live with you) must have a National Insurance number. 

The person who applies must also have at least one of the following:

• British or Irish citizenship
• settled or pre-settled status, or you have applied and you’re waiting for a decision
• permission to access public funds - your UK residence card will tell you if you cannot do this

If you’re not currently working

You may still be eligible if your partner is working, and you are on carer’s leave or if you get any of the following: 

• Incapacity Benefit
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Carer’s Allowance
• Limited Capability for Work Benefit
• contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance

Still not sure if you're eligible? 

Eligibility checker tool