The following are some of the ways that you may be able to fund childcare.
Universal Credit
- You need to be in paid work or starting a job in the next month.
- If you live with a partner, you both need to be in paid work.
- It does not matter how many hours you work, but the hours of childcare must relate to the hours that you are in work.
- It must be paid work, so you are not eligible if you are volunteering and only getting money for expenses.
- Funding can be claimed from birth to age 17 years.
- Universal Credits can pay up to 85% of your childcare costs.
To apply for Universal Credit: How to claim - GOV.UK
Tax Free Childcare
Tax-Free childcare is a government scheme aimed at helping parents back to work. For every £8 a parent pays into a Tax-Free Childcare account the government will pay £2.
Tax-Free Childcare is available from birth until age 11 years (16 years if your child is disabled).
You can check to see if you are eligible for childcare support here
Working families can get up to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year) for each child to help with the cost of childcare. This goes up to £1,000 every 3 months (up to £4,000 a year) for a child who is disabled and in receipt of:
- Disability Living Allowance
- Personal Independence Payment
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- or if your child is certified as blind or severely sight impaired
Tax-Free Childcare can be used to pay for registered childcare including:
- childminders
- nurseries
- pre-schools
- nannies
- before and after school clubs
- holiday clubs
Tax-Free Childcare can be used alongside the 15 and 30 hours funded childcare available for children aged 9 months and over.
Tax-Free childcare cannot be used with Universal Credits, Working Tax Credits or Child Tax Credits.
You and your partner must each expect to earn (on average) at least £195 per week (equal to 16 hours at the national minimum wage), up to £100,000 each.
Childcare Grant
Available for parents who are:
- studying full-time higher education, and
- have children under 15 years or under 17 years if they have special educational needs
Your grant will be paid into a special account that your childcare setting can request payment from.
- You’re a parent under 20 years at the start of your course
- You’re the main carer for your child
- You live in England
- You’re either a British citizen or have a legal right to live and study in England
- Your course qualifies
- Your childcare provider qualifies
Care to Learn is only available for publicly funded courses in England. This includes courses that take place in:
- Schools
- Sixth forms in schools
- Sixth-form colleges
- Other colleges and learning providers, including Foundation Learning
- Your community at Children’s Centres / Family Hubs
The childcare providers that could accept this type of funding are:
- Childminder
- Preschool playgroup
- Day nursery
- Out of school club
To qualify, your childcare provider must be one of the following:
- Registered with Ofsted
- Registered with a childminder agency
- A school
You can get help with childcare whilst you study.
Find more useful information about help with your childcare costs.