Nursery Funding Guide

Written by Rupert Marlowe at Play2Day Nursery

The biggest question I am currently receiving from parents is how does nursery funding work and what they need to do to make sure they are applying for and receiving the correct funding. To give some context I am the business manager of a large nursery and before was the treasurer of a charity nursery so have had nearly 10 years experience helping parents navigate childcare funding.

Please bear in mind that all funding, currently 9 month plus, 2 year plus and 3 year plus all only starts the term after your child turns this age so for example if you child turns 2 in the October the funding cannot be started until the January after.

My first and biggest piece of advise is to book your nursery 'show arounds' at least a term before you want the space for your child so if you would like to start after the Easter holidays at the end of April, make sure you are seeing the nurseries you are interested in at the latest in November or December. For the more popular nurseries you might even want to be looking 2 terms ahead and I would always see a minimum of 3 so you get a good feel of what they each have to offer. The nursery place for your child is a very personal decision and well worth doing the research.

Secondly and the most important is apply early, the 9 month old funding application (Link below) for September has been open from May and the deadline for applications is the 31st August but I have many cases of parents applying late and not receiving their code in time leaving the funding up in the air.

Thirdly, sadly if you receive the 15 hours funding code then this is for term-time only, not a problem if you have a term-time job (lucky you) or are already organising childcare for an older sibling. My wife and I don't see each other very much over the summer holidays but if not then a lot of settings will let you stretch the funding over the whole year but this reduces the hours to approximately 11 per week so an extra 4 hours per week will have to be paid for and of course then factored into your finances.

Finally the childcare allowance for working parents is being extended so from April 2025 the 2 year old funding is being increased to 30 hours per week (22 hours all year round) and then the same thing is happening for the 9 month old funding from September 2025. Well worth speaking to your nursery or childminder if you would like to increase your child's hours at this time as they will be receiving lots of requests.

To find out more about Play2Day Nursery in Martlesham Heath, Ipswich, please visit www.play2daynurseries.co.uk