Free Early Education for two year olds

Eligibility

Your 2-year-old can get free childcare if you live in England and get one 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
• 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)

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

• are looked after by a local authority
• get Disability Living Allowance
• have left care under an adoption order, special guardianship order or a child arrangements order

If you’re a non-EEA citizen who cannot claim benefits

Your 2-year-old may get free childcare if you are getting support under the Immigration and Asylum Act and have either:

• claimed asylum in the UK and are waiting for a decision (known as ‘part 6’)
• been refused asylum in the UK (known as ‘section 4’)

A 2-year-old you care for may also get free childcare if your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax, and you have any of the following:

• leave to remain with ‘no recourse to public funds’ on family or private life grounds
• support from your local council because you have ‘a child in need’, for example, they have a disability or a child protection plan
• the right to live in the UK because you’re the main carer of a British citizen (known as a ‘Zambrano Carer’)

Your 2 -year-old can also get free childcare and early education if they:

• have a statement of special educational needs (SEN statement)
• have an education, health and care plan (EHC Plan)
• get Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• are looked after by a local authority in England or Wales (‘in care’)
• have left care under a special guardianship order, child arrangements order or adoption order in England or Wales

Eligible two-year olds can start receiving their entitlement the term after their second birthday. 

• Birthdays between 1 September and 31 December, funding starts in the Spring term (January)
• Birthdays between 1 January and 31 March, funding starts in the Summer term (April)
• Birthdays between 1 April and 31 August, funding starts in the Autumn term (September)

Eligible 2-year-olds are entitled to 570 hours of free early education per year. It’s usually taken as 15 hours a week over 38 weeks of the year (split into three terms).

However, if your child‘s provider is open all year round, such as a day nursery, the free hours will be spread equally over those weeks. For example, if your child attends a provider that is open for 51 weeks a year, they will receive 11 hours a week.

National limits

National limits are set by the government about how the free sessions can be offered meaning that:

• no session can be longer than 10 hours
• a maximum of 15 hours per week can be taken over a minimum of two days
• you can use your free childcare during the weekends as well

You can discuss with the provider how your free hours can be taken. Some may offer set days and times, whereas others may be more flexible. If needed, you can purchase additional hours of childcare.

A variety of providers offer free early education and childcare for two-year-olds, including:

• day nurseries
• pre-schools or playgroups
• childminders
• nursery schools

For a list of childcare providers in your area offering funded spaces, please contact Early Years & Childcare Team on 0208 496 3566 or email childcare@walthamforest.gov.uk.  

Once you have chosen your preferred childcare setting, contact them directly to arrange for your child to start.

If you would like to take up any additional hours outside the Free Early Education Entitlement, the childcare provider will invoice you accordingly.

Please note that taking up a nursery place at a school does not guarantee a reception or Year 1 place at that school. There is a completely separate admissions procedure for reception and Year 1 classes in a school.

Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE) providers must be:

• registered with Ofsted/DfE
• issued with a contract by the Local Authority to do this.

To get a contract from the Local Authority, they must demonstrate their understanding of the legal and statutory requirements they must comply with:

• planning and building regulations,
• health and safety(including premises statutory compliance),
• employment law
• safeguarding
• finance

Providers who fail to demonstrate that they have an understanding of and comply with the requirements covered by the compliance checks, will not be commissioned by the Local Authority as providers. 

Not ready to take your child to a nursery or pre-school? Bring them to a free Stay 2 Play session at a Waltham Forest Children and Family Centres and join in the fun yourself. Each two-hour session supports your child’s learning through playing with other children alongside their parents or carers.

A range of stimulating activities are available at the sessions allowing your child to play, paint, read, cook, climb, sing, dance, dress up, jump, run around, whatever they like doing.

If you do not have your 2-year-old eligibility code or access to the internet, just come along to one of the sessions, bring your National Insurance Number or your National Asylum Support Service (NASS) number, and we'll also do the check for you on the day. You can attend the session whether you are eligible for the Free Childcare for 2-year-olds or not.

See Stay 2 Play sessions on our Facebook group or go to the Children and Family Centres page.