Funding Options
The Benefits of Preschool
Many families tend to increase their child’s attendance at nursery as they gradually progress towards preschool. It is also known that increase in the number of days that children attend preschool, may help prepare them for the transition to ‘school’.
Three and four year olds especially, are keen to develop their social skills. A nurturing environment within a preschool can stimulate and support this development in a positive way. Children within a preschool environment also benefit greatly from the expansive learning and holistic development (through play opportunities) that a highly qualified early years professional can provide.
Thus, better enabling them to leave for school well prepared socially, academically and emotionally. Early Steps Daycare is proud to be able to offer 30 hours funded* childcare for all eligible families.
We understand that covering the cost of childcare isn’t always easy, especially within the current financial climate. To help parents, the UK government offers a range of funded childcare schemes to help lighten the financial load.
Below are some information pertaining to the available funding options that may help you with your childcare application
Government Funded Childcare Hours*
Funded Hours
Within England, there are two government funded 15 hours free* early education schemes that offer childcare for children aged two, three and four. Please click here for more information.
15 hours of free childcare for 2 year olds
Some children may be entitled to 15 hours* of free childcare in the term after their second birthday. Early learning for 2-year-olds and 2 year funding for working parents is only open to children that meet certain criteria.
Families can usually qualify if they claim the following:
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
Child tax credits, and your household Income is £16,190 a year or less before tax
The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
The Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
Please refer to the Tower Hamlets webpage for further details on eligibility
Currently in England all 3 and 4-year-olds receive 15* hours a week government funded early education. If their parents are living and working in England, 3 and 4-year-olds may be entitled to 30 hours* funded childcare, which equates to 1,140 hours per year in total! (From September 2025, 30 hours funding* will be made available for parents of 9 months old children)
Currently, if you are eligible, you will be entitled to access the 30 funded hours* from the beginning of the term following your child’s 3rd birthday.
Parents and carers should check with Childcare Choices to see if they are eligible for 30 hours*.
*The government offers 570 hours and 1,140 hours for funded childcare throughout the year. This is typically split into 15 hours or 30 hours per term time (38 weeks).
To better ensure that families of all attendance types can benefit fully from the funding, we stretch the funding across 50 weeks (as opposed to the term time, 38 week period), enabling part-time families to access more of the funded hours than would otherwise be available to them if restricted under a term time structure. This means instead of being restricted to 15 hours or 30 hours per week over term time only, you can now enjoy 11 hours or 22 hours per week spread over 50 weeks of the year.
An additional £3 per session or £4 per full day is charged for funded placements, as funding does not cover meals and snacks.
Tax-Free Childcare
Tax-Free Childcare is a UK government initiative designed to help working parents with the cost of their childcare.
For every £8 that you (or someone else) pays in, the government will top it up with an extra £2. This is equivalent of the tax most people pay - 20%. For more information on this scheme and to see if you are eligible, please click here
Childcare Vouchers
Childcare vouchers, was a scheme that was initiated by the government and has been discontinued by the government. However, if you joined either one of these schemes on or before 4 October 2018, you’ll still be able to receive these vouchers and use them to support your childcare payments with us – provided you’ve stayed with the same employer, and they still run this scheme. To learn more about this scheme, please click here
*An additional £3 per session or £4 per full day is charged for funded placements, as funding does not cover meals and snacks.
