Important
For working family funding entitlements (30 hours), you must apply for your eligibility code by 31 August 2025 to claim funding in the Autumn Term.
Funded childcare for 2 year olds
Funded childcare is available for 2 year olds for working families.
If you are not working, you may qualify for free childcare if:
- you get a qualifying benefit
- your child is looked after by the Local Authority
- your child has Special Educational Needs or Disability
- you are a non-UK citizen who cannot claim benefits
For full eligibility criteria see 2-year-old childcare funding for non-working families.
Working families
Parents can apply for up to 30 hours per week of funded childcare. This will be available from September 2025 for children aged 9 months to 3 years.
Find out what you can get
Use the online calculator to check what help you can get with childcare costs.
Who is eligible?
You may be eligible for the funded childcare offer if you (and your partner, if applicable) are working and meet the following income conditions:
- Each of you earns less than £100,000 per year, and
- Each of you earns at least the equivalent of 16 hours per week at minimum or living wage (for example, around £120 per week if you're aged 25 or over).
Apprentices can also qualify if they meet the 16-hour threshold based on the apprentice minimum wage.
You may still qualify under certain circumstances, even if one of you is not currently working. These include:
- One or both of you is temporarily away from work due to maternity, paternity, adoption leave, parental leave, or statutory sick pay.
- One partner is working while the other is unable to work due to:
- Having substantial caring responsibilities, or
- Being disabled or medically incapacitated.
In these cases, you or your partner must be receiving one of the following benefits:
- Incapacity Benefit
- Carer’s Allowance
- Severe Disablement Allowance
- Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance
You can also apply if:
- You are self-employed or on a zero-hours contract, as long as you expect to meet the earnings threshold on average over the next three months.
- You are not currently working, but have a confirmed job offer and are due to start work within 14 days, and you expect to meet the earnings requirement within the following three months.
- You are starting a new business – in this case, you will not need to meet the minimum income requirement during your first year of trading.
How to apply for funded childcare for working families
To get funded childcare for working families, you must apply to the government in advance. They will assess your eligibility. If you are approved they will give you an eligibility code.
Application deadlines
To use your funding, you must receive your eligibility code by the following deadlines:
- 31 December – to start using funding from the beginning of the spring term (January)
- 31 March – to start using funding from the beginning of the summer term (April)
- 31 August – to start using funding from the beginning of the autumn term (September)
If you miss the deadline, your child may not get funded hours for that term.
If you already have a code for up to 15 hours of funded childcare and have reconfirmed your eligibility, you can receive up to 30 hours per week starting in September 2025. You must reconfirm your code before 31 August 2025.
How many hours are children entitled to?
From September 2025 a child can get up to 1,140 hours per year over no fewer than 38 weeks.
A child’s entitlement year begins from the term after they reach 9 months (See example)
If a child was getting 15 hours per week in the Spring and Summer terms in 2025, the offer will increase to 30 hours per week with effect from September. A child may get the following total hours, depending on when their entitlement year began:
- Entitlement year from January 2025 to December 2025: Total 780 hours
- Entitlement year from April 2025 to March 2026: Total 925 hours
2-year-old childcare funding for non-working families
15 hours per week of free childcare is available for 2 year olds who meet one of the following criteria:
Criterion A: Children whose parents/carers get qualifying benefits
- Income Support
- Income based Job Seekers’ Allowance (JSA)
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Universal Credit - if the combined household (both parents) income from work is £15,400 or less a year, after tax, not including benefit payments
- Tax Credits, and the combined household (both parents) income is £16,190 or less a year, before tax.
- Guaranteed Element of the State Pension Credit
- Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
Criterion B: Children who are looked after by the Local Authority:
- Child in Care ‘looked after’
- Child has left care under an adoption order, special guardianship order or a child arrangements order.
Details of a Social Worker able to verify the above information is required.
Criterion C: Children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disability
- Children in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
- Child with a current Statement of Special Educational Needs (SEND).
- Child with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan.
Documentation copies are required to verify eligibility
Criterion D: Children whose parents are not UK citizens and cannot claim benefits
Parents with immigration status with ‘no recourse to public funds’ may still get free childcare for their two year old. They must live in England and the combined household income after tax must be no more than:
- £26,500 for families outside of London with one child
- £34,500 for families within London with one child
- £30,600 for families outside of London with two or more children
- £38,600 for families within London with two or more children
They cannot have more than £16,000 in savings or investments.
Once a child's funding has been agreed, it will continue even if the family’s circumstances change at a later date.
Apply for free childcare as a non-working family
If you meet one of the above criteria, you can apply by contacting an approved childcare provider in Harrow.
The provider must be registered to offer free places for 2 year olds. They will ask you to provide proof of eligibility, for example a benefit award letter. They can also request an eligibility check on your behalf.
Find a free childcare provider
They will let you know when the funding can start.