The following are some of the ways that you may be able to fund childcare.
Universal Credit
Working families claiming universal credit
Funding can be claimed from birth to age 17 years.
Universal Credits can pay up to 85% of your childcare costs.
This funding can be claimed from birth to age 17. Parents will usually need to be working (it does not matter how many hours you work) or have a job offer.
Check your eligibility and apply
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).
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 3 and 4 year olds.
Tax-Free childcare cannot be used with Universal Credits, Working Tax Credits or Child Tax Credits.
Over the next 3 months you and your partner (if you have one) must each expect to earn at least:
- £2,539 before tax if you’re aged 21 or over (equivalent to £195 per week)
- £2,080 before tax if you’re aged 18 to 20 (equivalent to £160 per week)
- £1,570 before tax if you’re under 18 or an apprentice (equivalent to £120 per week)
This is the National Minimum wage for 16 hours a week on average.
Check your eligibility and apply
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
The amount you get depends on your household income and the number of children you have.
Your grant will be paid into a special account that your childcare setting can request payment from.
What you'll get
This will depend on your household income and the number of children you have.
For the 2025 to 2026 academic year
You can get 85% of your childcare costs or a fixed maximum amount, whichever is less. The maximum you can get is:
- up to £199.62 a week for 1 child
- up to £342.24 a week for 2 or more children
Your grant will be paid into a Childcare Grant Payment Service (CCGPS) account. You’ll get an email telling you how to set one up.
Your childcare provider will send requests for payment to the CCGPS, which you can approve through your account. You’ll usually need to do this every week. Your provider will be paid directly from the money in your account.
You can only approve payments to your childcare provider once your course has started. You cannot use the Childcare Grant to pay for upfront costs such as deposits.
Any money that’s left over at the end of the academic year will be returned to Student Finance England.
Apply through your student finance account
Care to Learn
Care to Learn can cover the cost of your childcare, including deposits and registration fees. The payments go straight to the childcare provider.
You can get Care to Learn if all of the following apply to you:
- 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