30 hours free childcare
Working parents in England can get 30 funded hours a week from the term after their child turns nine months. This is the single biggest piece of help available, and the rules changed twice between 2024 and 2025, so plenty of families still think they do not qualify.
What are you actually entitled to?
Put in what you spend and we will show the Tax-Free Childcare top-up and what the funded hours are worth at typical local rates. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Funded hours are worth 38 weeks a year, so the yearly figure is the term-time value. Tax-Free Childcare adds £2 for every £8 you pay in, capped at £500 per child every three months. Settings often charge separately for meals and consumables, which this does not include.
Who qualifies
You and your partner, if you have one, each need to expect to earn at least £2,643.68 over the next three months if you are 21 or over. That is about 16 hours a week at the National Living Wage. It is £2,256.80 if you are 18 to 20 and £1,664 if you are under 18 or an apprentice.
Neither of you can have an adjusted net income above £100,000. There is no taper: at £100,001 you lose all of it.
If one of you is not working you can still qualify if they receive certain benefits such as Carer's Allowance, or are incapacitated.
When to apply
You can apply from when your child is 23 weeks old. The code has to reach your setting before the start of the term you want the place in, and terms start in September, January and April.
Apply too late and you wait a whole term. Apply very early and you still have to reconfirm every three months to keep the code valid.
What 30 hours really means
It is 30 hours a week for 38 weeks a year, which is term time. Many settings let you “stretch” the same total across all 52 weeks, which works out at about 22 hours a week instead.
Settings are not obliged to offer the funded hours at the times you want them, and some only offer them in fixed sessions. A nursery open 8am to 6pm might only let you use funded hours between 9am and 3pm.
Ask three things: do you take the funded hours, which sessions can I use them in, and what will I still be charged.
Questions people ask
How does 30 hours free childcare work?
You apply online for an eligibility code, give it to your childcare provider, and they claim the funding from the council. You get 30 hours a week free during term time, though the setting may still charge for meals and consumables.
Who is eligible for 30 hours free childcare?
Working parents of children aged 9 months to 4 years, where each parent expects to earn at least £2,643.68 over three months (if 21 or over) and neither earns over £100,000 a year.
Is 30 hours free childcare really free?
The childcare itself is funded, but settings can and usually do charge separately for meals, nappies, sun cream and trips, because the council rate often does not cover their costs.
Can I get 30 hours if I am self-employed?
Yes, as long as you expect to meet the minimum earnings over the next three months. If you started your business in the last 12 months the minimum earnings rule does not apply.