AfC Info website - Kingston and Richmond

Am I eligible to receive the extended entitlement? 

The extended entitlement is in addition to the universal entitlement, providing an extra 15 hours a week of free childcare, for families that meet the eligibility criteria.

It will be made available to families where:

• You, and any partner, are working (or the sole parent is working in a lone parent family)
• You, and any partner, must each expect to earn (on average)  a weekly minimum equivalent to 16 hours at National Living Wage, or if under 25 years of age, the equivalent of 16 hours at National Minimum Wage
• You, and any partner, must individually earn less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year 
• The extended entitlement will also be made available to families where:
• both parents are employed but one, or both parents, is temporarily away from the workplace on parental, maternity or paternity leave
• both parents are employed but one, or both parents, is temporarily away from the workplace on adoption leave
• both parents are employed but one, or both parents, is temporarily away from the workplace on statutory sick pay
• one parent is employed and one parent has substantial caring responsibilities based on specific benefits received for caring
• one parent is employed and one parent is disabled or incapacitated based on receipt of specific benefits.

Please note:

• parents on zero hours contracts will be able to access the extended entitlement if they meet the eligibility criteria
• parents that are newly self-employed (i.e. in a start-up period) do not need to demonstrate that they meet the eligibility criteria for the first 12 months

Where can my child get the extended entitlement? 

Childcare providers on the Ofsted Early Years Register can offer the extended entitlement, although they may choose not to. Childcare providers include childminders, day nurseries, playgroups, pre-schools, nursery schools, schools with nursery classes and out-of-school providers.  Nannies will not be able to offer the extended entitlement as they are not on the Early Years Ofsted register.

You are able to take up the extended entitlement hours across a maximum of two sites in one day (this includes different types of provision on one site). This is to support the wellbeing of your child by minimising the number of changes experienced in one day. 

By setting the limit over one day, you are able to use a combination of childcare providers at different points in the year.  

How will I know if a childcare provider will be offering the extended entitlement? 

You can find childcare providers, who offer the 30 hours, using the Childcare Search

You should contact the childcare provider of your choice to find out if they are delivering the extended entitlement and if there are places available. 

How can the extended entitlement hours be used? 

The extended hours can be used as flexibly as possible over the year. There is no requirement for them to be taken on a particular day of the week. However, you will not be able to: 

• access more than 10 hours of entitlement a day 
• access entitlement hours any time before 6am or after 8pm 
• access more than 30 hours of entitlement a week 
• access more than 1,140 hours of entitlement a year

Can I use the different childcare offers together?

Childcare Choices can help you understand how the childcare offers work together.

When can my child start to receive the extended entitlement? 

Your child can receive the extended working families entitlement the term after both of the following conditions are met (whichever is the later):

• The child's third birthday
• The date you receive an eligibility code from HMRC.  You must apply for and receive an eligibility code during the term before your child receives the entitlement.  You can apply through Childcare Choices

For example, a parent whose child turns 3 in November applies for a 30 hour code in September. If they receive an eligibility code they will be able to start claiming the entitlement from January (provided that the parent still meets the eligibility criteria in January)

Can I get the extended entitlement for a child I foster?

The government has extended eligibility for early education and childcare support to children in foster care where the foster parents meet certain eligibility criteria. Children in foster care will be able to receive the extended entitlement, if the following criteria are met:

• The decision to access the extended hours must be consistent with the child’s care plan (this will be decided by the foster care team)
• In single parent foster families, the foster parent engages in paid work outside their role as a foster parent (there is no minimum earnings limit)
• In two parent foster families, both partners must be engaged in paid work outside their role as a foster parent. If one partner is not a foster parent then they must be in qualifying paid work and meet the eligibility criteria, please refer to “Am I eligible to receive the extended entitlement?" paragraph above.

Further details on how Foster Carers can apply for the extended entitlement are available to download on the Childcare Choices website.

What happens if I no longer meet the eligibility criteria? 

If your family no longer meets the eligibility criteria, your child will not immediately lose their childcare place for the extended entitlement.  There will be a grace period to give you the opportunity to get new employment. If circumstances change during the grace period, you can reapply again and if eligible your child can continue to receive the extended hours. 

The grace period dates can be found below: 

After the grace period, if you still do not meet the eligibility criteria, your child will no longer be able to access the extended entitlement. They will still be able to receive the universal 15 hours a week (570 hours a year) of free childcare for all 3 and 4 year olds.