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Apply for funded childcare

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Apply for the universal offer: 15 hours a week for all families with 3-4-year-olds

Ask your new or existing childcare provider for this. You don’t need to apply through us or the government.

  1. find an Ofsted-registered childcare provider to apply through
  2. confirm your child’s age with a birth certificate or passport
  3. they confirm your funded hours with the government, which pays them directly

ESCIS – Find a childcare provider

Apply for the expanded hours for working families

If you’re a working family applying for:

  • 30 hours a week for 3-4 year-olds
  • 15 hours a week for children aged 9 months+ from September 2024

Follow these steps:

  1. Go to Childcare Choices to check you are eligible
  2. Follow the steps to apply with HMRC and get your 11-digit eligibility code

You must log in to your childcare account and revalidate your code every three months. If you don’t do this, you will lose your free childcare.

Apply for the extended expanded hours offer through Childcare Choices

Apply for 15 hours a week childcare funding for families of disadvantaged 2-year-olds

  1. check with us that you’re eligible
  2. complete an application on Parent Portal
  3. we give you a 6-digit eligibility code
  4. find an Ofsted-registered provider and give them your code.
  5. We pay them directly

Apply for childcare funding for disadvantaged 2-year-olds

Apply for free childcare for foster carers

  1. check with your child’s social worker that they approve you using a childcare provider
  2. apply to us – you can do this when your child is 16 weeks away from turning three
  3. we give you a code and tell your child’s social worker
  4. give the code to an approved childcare provider, which we pay directly

You and your child’s social worker must reconfirm your free childcare every three months. If you don’t do this you will lose your free childcare

Apply for funding for foster children

Contact us for help

Contact us for help or if you have any questions:

Email: Customer Relations Team

Phone: 0345 60 80 192 (lines are open from 10am to 3pm Monday to Friday)

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