Free Early Learning for 2 year olds

Eligibility

There are two ways your child could be eligible for a funded place for a 2-year-old:

1. Early Learning for 2 year olds

Some children aged 2 are entitled to 15 hours of free early learning a week, for 38 weeks per year. Any eligible child can access a place in Gateshead. Your child might be eligible if you get any of the following benefits:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Universal Credit, and your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax, not including benefit payments
• the guaranteed element of Pension Credit

Your benefits will not be affected if you take up the Early Learning for 2 year olds offer.

2-year-olds can also get free childcare if they:

• are looked after by a local authority
• have an education, health and care (EHC) plan
• are a child in receipt of Disability Living Allowance
• have left care under an adoption order, special guardianship order or a child arrangements order

No income thresholds apply.

If your child is in receipt of Early Learning for 2 year olds, you may also be eligible for Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP). EYPP is paid to childcare providers and gives them additional funding to support learning and development for children. You can see if you're eligible for EYPP on the GOV.UK website and speak with your provider.

If you and your partner (if you have one) are working, you may also be eligible for an additional 15 hours under the working parent entitlement. If you're a working parent and you're not eligible for Early Learning for 2 year olds, you may still be eligible for 30 hours under the working parent entitlement.

Government funding is intended to pay for 15 or 30 hours a week of high quality, flexible childcare. The 15 or 30 hours must be able to be accessed free of charge to parents.

Government funding does not cover:

• meals
• nappies
• additional hours
• additional activities, such as trips

So you might be asked to pay for these things. However, these charges must not be mandatory, or a condition of accessing a funded place and you can speak to your provider about what alternative options they may have.

If you're not eligible for Early Learning for 2 year olds, you may be able to get childcare if you're working under a separate scheme.

If you meet both sets of eligibility criteria, you must apply through the Early Learning for 2 year olds scheme.

Non- UK citizen who cannot claim benefits

If you're a non-UK citizen who cannot claim benefits and your immigration status says you have 'no recourse to public funds', you may still get free childcare for your 2-year-old. You must live in England and your household income after tax must be no more than:

• £26,500 for families outside of London with one child
• £30,600 for families outside of London with 2 or more children

You cannot have more than £16,000 in savings or investments. 

Check if your child is eligible (opens new window) 

You can not apply via the portal where the eligibility is not related to income. When this is the case, please contact Gateshead Family Information Service using the contact details below.

2. Working families: Free childcare for 2 year olds 

Eligible working families in England are entitled to 30 hours free early education over 38 weeks of the year.

Some providers may allow you to stretch these hours over more weeks, using fewer hours per week.

Check if you are eligible under this new criteria and apply for a code online. 

If you are eligible for free childcare as a working family, your code will need to be revalidated every three months. For more information please visit the Best Start in Life website (opens new window).

The Department for Education have set out these four rules:

• no session is to be longer than 10 hours
• there is no minimum session length (providers may have their own policy)
• a session must not start before 6am or finish after 8pm
• a child may access their entitlement at a maximum of 2 sites in a single day

Your child can start their free place at any point during the term following their second birthday. We would not recommend that they start in the last 2 weeks of a term. This continues until the term after their third birthday when all 3 -and 4-year-old children receive free early education.

The entitlement can be taken across a maximum of 2 providers, provided they both agree to this. Not all providers will be able to offer flexibility and may offer a fixed pattern of hours for your child to attend.

Some providers will offer the option of having fewer hours each week over more weeks. This is often called "stretching" the entitlement.

You can take up additional hours for a charge. If your provider gives you an invoice it must also identify the free entitlement. You will not be made to pay for a uniform or a registration fee, if only attending for 15 hours.

You will be asked to agree the days and times of your child's attendance on a declaration form. You may not be able to change these until the start of the next term, and then only with the agreement of the provider. Providers often stagger children's start dates, to make starting school or nursery easier. This could mean a child may not access their full entitlement. If your child is likely to be absent for more than 2 weeks you must notify your childcare provider. If you don't, you may risk losing your place with that particular provider.

Search for providers offering 2 year funded places (opens new window)

You can report a childcare provider if you have any concerns. 

Disability Access Funding (DAF)

The Disability Access Fund aids access to early years places by, for example, supporting providers in making reasonable adjustments to their provision and/or helping with building capacity.

Children will qualify if they meet the following criteria:

• the child is in receipt of child disability living allowance (DLA)

The providers eligible for the DAF will be entitled to receive a one-off payment of per year. 

Children in receipt of the DAF will be eligible where they take-up any period of funded entitlement.

DAF is payable as a lump sum once a year per eligible child. If a child is splitting their funded entitlement across 2 or more providers, parents must nominate the setting to receive the DAF. If a child receiving DAF moves from one setting to another within a financial year, the new setting is not eligible to receive the funding for this child within the same financial year.

Parents must declare their child's eligibility on the parent declaration form.

Providers must send evidence of a child's eligibility to DLA to their funding officer prior to making a claim.