Funding

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‘Early Education Entitlement’ is funded education for all 3 and 4 year olds and some children under the age of three that meet certain eligibility criteria.  Funding is distributed by the local authorities who set the level of funding received, which differs between county to county, and is provided for 38 weeks of the academic year.

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When does funding commence?

Children who are eligible for funded educational hours receive these from the term after they have reached the required age level (9 months, 2 years or 3 years):

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                                   A Child Born On or Between                                 Can Access their Free Entitlement From​

                                   1st April - 31st August                                            Autumn Term (September onwards)

                                   1st September - 31st December                          Spring Term (January onwards)

                                   1st January - 31st March                                        Summer Term (April onwards)

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Who is eligible to receive funding?

Starting from the term after their third birthday, ALL children are entitled to 15 hours of “universal” funding.  SOME children are eligible for the “extended” entitlement of a further 15 hours of funding and so they receive a total of 30 hours.

Starting from the term after their second birthday, SOME children meeting certain eligibility criteria are entitled to receive a “working parent entitlement” of 15 hours of funding.  This will increase to 30 hours from September 2025.  In addition, certain low income or ‘disadvantaged’ families are allowed to receive 15 hours of funding. 

 

Starting from the term after a child turns 9 months old, SOME children meeting certain eligibility criteria are entitled to receive a “working parent entitlement” of 15 hours of funding.  This will also increase to 30 hours from September 2025.

 

To be eligible for the extended entitlement for 3 and 4 year olds, 2 year old and 9-23 month working parent entitlement, the following criteria are used to determine eligibility (this eligibility criteria applies to each parent or carer in dual-parent households and the lone parent or carer in lone-parent households):

 

Each parent or carer must:

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• earn more than the equivalent of 16 hours at the national living wage or minimum wage per week. This means that over the next three months, you expect to earn at least £2,380 before tax ( the National Living Wage if you are 21 or older).

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There is no requirement to work a certain number of hours per week – it is all about how much you earn. This means that, for example, if you only work 10 hours a week but earn £20 per hour, you will meet the minimum earning threshold.

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AND

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• earn less than £100,000 per year. Again, this applies to each parent and carer in a dual-parent household. This means that if one parent earned £101,000 and the other earned £20,000, a family would not be eligible, but if both parents earned £99,000, the family would be eligible.

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For low income families who are on income support and/or universal credit and have a child aged 2 years old, 15 hours of funding is available for ‘disadvantaged’ children.  This specific level of funding, unlike the working parent entitlement, must be applied for directly through Oxfordshire County Council at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/twoyearoldfunding.  Please reach out to our Nursery Manager for additional information if you are eligible for this level of funding.

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Checking your eligibility for working parent and 'extended' entitlement

​​All parents are advised to go to visit the Government website: www.childcarechoices.gov.uk to check for eligibility for 9-23 month and 2 year old working parent entitlement and the extended 15 hours for children aged 3 and 4.  Even if you think you do not qualify, we always encourage parents to apply for the funding you may be entitled to rather than assume you do not.  The Government website goes into more information regarding the eligibility, and you must visit the site and apply to trigger being given a special funding code which is needed by us to claim your funding.  If you are eligible, you will receive an 11 digit code that must be passed onto us (along with the National Insurance number of one parent). We will follow this up with all the necessary paperwork that you need to complete for tracking with Oxfordshire County Council.

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Fully Funded Offering

Early Days does offer a limited number of fully funded places in which certain additional charges and fees will be waived.  These places are limited and are allocated at the discretion of the nursery on a case by case basis, in which the following circumstances will be taken into consideration: receipt of low income supported 2 year old funding, receipt of EYPP, any other extenuating circumstances.

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Children receiving one of these spaces will not be required to pay a registration fee unless they have additional hours or days outside of the fully funded entitlement.  Please talk to Gina for more information.

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Specific information on how funding works for your contract, please click on the link below for the contract you are on:​​​​

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51 Week Contracts - Funding Info (ALL new families from Sept 2024 onwards)​​​

45 Week Contracts - Funding Info (Grandfathered to families registered prior to Sept 2024)

40 Week Contracts - Funding Info (Grandfathered to families registered prior to Sept 2024 who do not use holiday club)

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