How to apply for 15 hours free childcare in England

The government has extended the 15 hours free childcare scheme in England. So from September 2024, all eligible working parents of children aged from nine months up to the age of three can get 15 hours free childcare and education for 38 weeks a year.

Parents of all three and four-year-olds in England are entitled to 15 hours free childcare a week, regardless of income.

Currently there are no plans to offer any free childcare to children under the age of nine months.

How does 15 hours free childcare work?

The scheme enables you to get a childcare place for free for up to 15 hours per week. Depending on the provider, you can use fewer hours per week to ‘stretch’ the free hours to cover a larger portion of the year. You cannot use more than 15 hours per week.

It can be used with ‘approved childcare’ providers. This means they must be registered with Ofsted, as well as participate in the scheme.

‘Approved childcare’ includes:

• Full day care, such as nurseries, nursery schools, pre-school
• After-school clubs and playgroups
• Childminders
• School
• Sure Start Children’s Centres

See more information on what the different early years settings provide.

The free childcare and education stops when your child starts in reception class or reaches compulsory school age.

15 hours free childcare for all 3 and 4 year olds

All children in England aged three and four are eligible for 15 hours free childcare.

If your child is three to four years old, you can get 15 hours free childcare or early education per week for 38 weeks of the year (during term time). This comes to a total of 570 hours over a 12-month period.

If you want to stretch the hours for use over the course of a year (52 weeks), you can reduce the number of hours per week to 11. Again, this depends on your provider and their opening hours. Some childcare providers may only be open during term time.

The free hours do not cover things like nappies, meals and additional activities such as trips out, which means you may still have to pay an amount towards this.

However the government has made it clear it will take action ‘to tackle reported instances of parents facing very high additional charges on top of the funded entitlement hours’. 

Extra charge also known as top-up fees must be voluntary for the parent if they are claiming funded childcare hours. In addition nurseries have to be completely transparent about any additional charges.

You can use the hours from 1 January, 1 April or 1 September following your child’s third birthday.

How to apply for 15 hours free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds

Contact your nursery, childminder or other provider which will apply on your behalf once you have shown them proof of your child’s age, such as their birth certificate.

You can also contact your local authority to find out what the options are in your area.

15 hours free childcare for disadvantaged 2 year olds

The 15 hours free childcare for disadvantaged two-year-olds are for families which receive some form of support, such as income support, Universal Credit or other benefits, or their child has, for example, Special Educational Needs (SEND).

To be eligible, parents and guardians must receive one of the following benefits:

• Universal Credit and household income is £15,400 per year or less after tax
• Tax credits, and household income is £16,190 per year or less after tax
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• The Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (payment you receive when you stop qualifying)

Or, if their child:

• Is looked after by a local authority
• Receives Disability Living Allowance
• Has Special Educational Needs (SEND)
• Is subject of a kinship or guardianship order

In terms of how you can use the hours, the same rules apply as they do with three and four-year-olds.

You can use the hours from 1 January, 1 April or 1 September following your child’s second birthday.

15 hours free childcare for working parents of children from 9 months

The government has extended 15 hours free childcare to eligible working parents of children from nine months and older.

How do I apply?

To apply for 15 hours free childcare for children aged over 9 months but under 3 years, you can fill in an application on the government website.

If successful, you will receive a code to give to your chosen childcare provider. It can take up to 7 days to find out if you are eligible.

When can I apply?

Parents will have to confirm their eligibility for the government funded hours every three months. If you don’t renew your code on time via your childcare account, you will need to reapply.

You may have to pay the nursery or childcare provider for extra services, on top of the government funding, such as lunch and nappies or for trips outside the nursery.

Eligible working parents whose children will be aged at least 9 months old on or before 31 December 2024 can apply now for their code.

What happens when I get my code?

Once you get your code, you need to take it to your nursery or your childcare provider, along with your National Insurance number and the date of birth of your child. Your childcare provider will process the code for you.

Working parents of 3-4 year-olds can get up for 30 hours free childcare

Working parents and guardians of three and four-year-olds in England can claim the 15 hours free childcare which is universal and also claim an extra 15 hours free childcare for being a working parent, totalling 30 hours free childcare.

30 hours free childcare from September 2025

From September 2025, working parents of children up to the age of five in England will be able to claim 30 hours free childcare a week.