Since September 2025, the UK's biggest childcare expansion in a generation has been fully in place. Working parents of children aged 9 months to school age now qualify for 30 hours a week of funded childcare. Here's everything you actually need to know — including the things nurseries don't always tell you upfront.
Maximum hours
Per week, for 38 weeks of the year
Eligible from
From the term after they turn 9 months
Worth up to
Per year, per child
Income limit
Per parent — not per household
Before September 2025, working parents of children aged 9 months to 2 years could only access 15 hours of funded childcare per week. The full 30 hours was reserved for 3 and 4-year-olds.
That changed. From September 2025, all eligible working parents — regardless of their child's age from 9 months onwards — get the full 30 hours. It's the same entitlement right through to school age, meaning a family with a 10-month-old now qualifies for exactly the same funded hours as a family with a 4-year-old.
This was the final stage of an expansion that started in April 2024. If you've been tracking the childcare changes and waiting for the full rollout, it's here.
You need to tick three boxes. Miss any one of them and you're down to 15 hours at best — or potentially none at all.
You and your partner (if you have one) both need to be in paid work. There's a minimum earnings threshold: each parent must earn the equivalent of 16 hours per week at the National Minimum Wage — which from April 2025 works out at roughly £10,158 per year.
If you're a single parent, the same rule applies to you alone. One income, one threshold.
The working requirement applies to both parents. If one of you isn't working — not on parental leave, not self-employed, not earning — you don't qualify for the 30 hours. You may still get the universal 15 hours for 3 and 4-year-olds, but not the extended offer.
On maternity or paternity leave? You still count as working for this purpose. If you're receiving Statutory Maternity Pay, Shared Parental Pay, or Adoption Pay — or if you're on unpaid parental leave and planning to return to work — you keep your eligibility. This catches a lot of families out: many assume going on mat leave means losing the hours. It doesn't.
This is the one that catches higher earners off guard. The £100,000 limit is per parent, not per household. A household where one parent earns £99,000 and the other earns £99,000 qualifies. A household where one parent earns £101,000 and the other earns nothing does not.
The number that matters is your adjusted net income — your gross income minus pension contributions, gift aid donations, and certain other deductions. This matters because there's a legal and legitimate way to bring your income below the threshold. More on that in a moment.
The funded hours start from the term after your child turns 9 months old. Not their 9-month birthday — the start of the next school term after it. Terms begin on 1 January, 1 April, and 1 September each year.
So if your child turns 9 months on 15 October, they become eligible from the January term — not immediately. Plan around this.
If either parent earns just over £100,000, losing 30 hours of funded childcare costs you up to £7,500 per year per child. That's a brutal cliff edge. Earn £99,000 — you're in. Earn £101,000 — you're out, immediately, completely.
What most parents don't realise is that pension contributions reduce your adjusted net income. If you earn £105,000, a pension contribution of £5,000 brings your adjusted net income to £100,000 — and you're eligible again. The pension contribution doesn't disappear either; it's money going into your retirement pot, not money thrown away.
For a family with two young children, restoring eligibility could be worth £15,000 per year. The pension contribution needed to do it is a fraction of that. It's one of the most valuable financial moves available to families in the £100k–£120k income range and most accountants don't mention it.
Use our tool to see whether this applies to your family and how much you could save. We calculate this automatically based on your income.
You apply through HMRC's Childcare Service at childcare.tax.service.gov.uk. You'll need your Government Gateway login and your National Insurance number.
You can apply from when your child is 23 weeks old — don't wait until they're about to hit 9 months. Places at nurseries fill up fast, and you need the eligibility code before your nursery can confirm the funded place.
When your application is approved, HMRC sends you an 11-digit eligibility code. Give this to your nursery. They use it to access the funding from your local council. Without the code, your nursery can't claim the funded hours — and they'll charge you full price in the meantime.
This is where a lot of families fall down. The funded hours run in line with school terms, and there are strict application deadlines. Miss the deadline by a day and you wait a full term — typically three months.
| If you want hours from | Apply by |
|---|---|
| January 2026 | 31 December 2025 |
| April 2026 | 31 March 2026 |
| September 2026 | 31 August 2026 |
The reconfirmation trap. Every 3 months, you must log back into the Childcare Service and reconfirm that you still meet the eligibility criteria. If you miss this, your code expires. Your nursery has to charge full fees until you reconfirm and get a new code. HMRC sends reminders, but they go to email and get buried. Set a recurring calendar reminder now — it's that important.
The hours are free. The rest isn't always.
Government guidance is clear that nurseries cannot charge mandatory top-up fees for the funded hours themselves. What they can charge for — and often do — is meals, nappies, sun cream, trips and optional activities. In practice this means most families pay something on top of their free hours, even when fully entitled.
What you should expect to pay varies enormously by nursery. Some charge £5–£6 per day for meals. Others bundle meals in. Ask your nursery for an itemised breakdown — since January 2026 they're required to provide one.
Also worth understanding: the 30 hours runs over 38 weeks (school terms). If your nursery is open 52 weeks a year and you want consistent care all year round, you can "stretch" your entitlement — taking fewer hours per week spread over more weeks. At 52 weeks this works out to about 22 hours per week. Your nursery will have to agree to this arrangement, and not all of them offer it.
You're not necessarily left with nothing.
All 3 and 4-year-olds get 15 hours of universal funded childcare regardless of their parents' income or employment status. This is automatic — your nursery handles it, no HMRC application needed.
2-year-olds from lower-income families may also qualify for 15 hours if you're on Universal Credit and earning under £15,400 a year, or if your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan, or has been in local authority care.
And if you're working but one of you earns below the minimum threshold, Tax-Free Childcare may still be available to you — the government tops up 20% of whatever you pay into your childcare account, up to £2,000 per year per child. It doesn't replace the free hours, but it works alongside them for any additional hours you pay for.
In no particular order: applying too late and missing the term deadline. Forgetting the 3-month reconfirmation. Assuming maternity leave makes you ineligible (it doesn't). Assuming your nursery will sort the application for you (they can't — it's yours to do). And not knowing about the pension contribution fix if your income is near £100,000.
These aren't obscure edge cases. They're things that trip up thousands of families every term.
Our free tool calculates your free childcare hours, Tax-Free Childcare, Child Benefit and more — based on your specific situation. Takes under 3 minutes.
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