Reconfirming your eligibility for 30 hours free childcare and/or Tax-Free Childcare

This is a gentle reminder to all parents that you need to apply every three months for your 30 free hours childcare and/or Tax-free Childcare services. This is to reconfirm your eligibility. You must do this even if your child hasn’t started their 30-hour place.

If you don’t currently receive these or are unsure what they are – here is a recap:

What is the 30 Hours Free Childcare scheme?

All 3 and 4-year-olds in England are currently entitled to up to 15 hours a week free childcare for 38 weeks of the year (during school term-times). From September 2017, this entitlement could go up to 30 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year for some working families.

This could take your free childcare entitlement from 570 hours a year up to 1,140 hours a year.

What is Tax-Free Childcare?

If you’re a working parent with children under 12 (or under 17 for disabled children), you can open an online account to pay for registered childcare.

The government will top-up the money you pay into the account. For every £8 you pay in, the government will add an extra £2.

You can receive up to £2,000 per child – that’s up to £500 every three months. If you have a disabled child, you can receive up to £4,000 per child – that’s up to £1,000 every three months.

• Parents of children born on or after 1st April 2013, and parents of disabled children, can apply now.

How do I reconfirm?

• You will get a text and/or email 4 weeks before your reconfirmation deadline. This will prompt you to log into your Childcare Service account.
• In the account, you must go to ‘secure messages’. You can access this section at any time. The section on reconfirmation will inform you of your reconfirmation date.
• You can reconfirm your eligibility for up to 4 weeks before your reconfirmation date.

Issues with codes

Please be aware that some parents have been experiencing some issues with their code – we have received the following guidance:

• Are you experiencing problems with your 30-hour childcare code?  Find out about the new dedicated line to answer your queries:
• 0300 123 5033 – option 1