Providing Early Years Education (EYE) funding

Funding is available for up to 15 hours childcare

Applications can be made on the government website - check if you are eligible for funding.

• available from 1 January, 1 April or 1 September in the term following your child’s 2nd birthday
• this childcare offer is not intended to cover the costs of meals, other consumables (such as nappies or sun cream), additional hours or additional activities (such as trips). Providers may charge a fee for these additions

Funding for families receiving some additional forms of government support 

See if you are eligible and apply for 15 hours of free childcare on the the government website - free childcare for 2 year olds.

• available from 1 January, 1 April or 1 September in the term following your child’s 2nd birthday
• the 15 hours childcare/early education offer is not intended to cover the costs of meals, other consumables (such as nappies or sun cream), additional hours or additional activities (such as trips). Providers may charge a fee for these additions

15 hours of childcare for all families

No application needed.

• from 1 January, 1 April or 1 September following your child's 3rd birthday

• funding is paid to your childcare provider

• the 15 hours childcare/early education offer is not intended to cover the costs of meals, other consumables (such as nappies or sun cream), additional hours or additional activities (such as trips). Providers may charge a fee for these additions

For more information about childcare funding please visit the Childcare Choices website.

30 hours of childcare for eligible working families

See if you are eligible and apply for funding on the government website - check eligible free childcare if you are working

• your child can start in their childcare place the term after they are eligible and have received a valid eligibility code, whichever is later
• this childcare offer is not intended to cover the costs of meals, other consumables (such as nappies or sun cream), additional hours or additional activities (such as trips). Providers may charge a fee for these additions

The government's Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities sets out how childcare providers can offer three and four year old funding.

Tax free childcare

Tax free childcare is for working families, including the self-employed, in the UK. This includes families:

• earning under £100k and an average of £167 per week (equal to 16 hours at the National Minimum or living Wage) each over three months
• who aren't receiving Tax Credits, Universal Credit or childcare vouchers
• with children aged 0-11 (or 0-16 if disabled)

Universal credit​

This is for working families, including the self-employed, who live in the UK and claim Universal Credit:

• with children aged 0-16.
• who aren't in receipt of Tax Credits, tax free childcare accounts or childcare vouchers.
• up to 85% of childcare costs can be claimed back to a maximum of £950.92 for one child or £1630.15 for two children per month.
• childcare costs repaid monthly as part of your Universal Credit monthly payment.
• must be Ofsted registered Early Years childcare and before/after school and holiday provision.
• additional support with childcare costs when starting a new job or moving from part time to full time hours.

Please visit the universal childcare website for full details and speak to your Jobcentre Work Coach to apply.

Upcoming changes to childcare support

From September 2024, 15 hours childcare support will be extended to eligible working parents of children from the age of 9 months to 3 year olds.

From September 2025, eligible working parents of children under the age of 5 will be entitled to 30 hours of childcare a week.

Depending on your provider, these hours can be used over 38 weeks of the year (during school term time), or up to 52 weeks if you use fewer than your total hours per week.

For more information visit the Childcare Choices website.

All three and four year old children attending an early years education setting may be eligible to receive EYPP. Parents/carers must meet specific criteria. You could claim an additional £302 per year for each child to spend on supporting their development, learning and care.

The parent declaration form has all the details you need to make an EYPP claim. When entering your headcount claim you need to include the details for the parent/carer when adding a new child. For an existing child update the existing information. The EYPP supplement claimed will be added to the payment made for any children found to be eligible.

The DAF is for three- and four-year-old children who are taking up funded early education hours and are getting DLA. Four-year-old children in primary school reception classes are not eligible.

Key dates

This will be sent via email as a funding schedule and includes headcount dates, funding periods and estimated payment dates. Information will also be available before each task on the provider portal.

We pay all funding directly to you. Once you have applied to become a funded early education provider and are registered on the Directory of Providers, you will be able to make claims through our online provider portal.

Our Directory of Providers is an unpublished list that we are required to keep as a record of providers who are registered to provide funded care in our area. Settings and Childminders wishing to join the Directory of Providers should email eyat@iow.gov.uk for more information.

You are also required to have a privacy notice to tell parents how you share their information.

We'll email you once your registration is complete and we'll tell you your Department for Education Unique Reference Number (DfE URN). We'll also email you details of how to complete the process to log in to our provider portal.

The Early Years terms and conditions explains how you can deliver funded early education. If you have any questions about funded childcare, email eyat@iow.gov.uk.

For parents and carers wanting to find out more information and to see if their family qualifies, visit information for parents.