A Parent's Guide to Free Early Years Provision for 3 & 4 Year Olds

What is the entitlement?

From September 2010, all eligible children are entitled to 570 hours of free early years provision per year.

The minimum offer that parents can expect to access is 3 hours a day over 5 days of the week or 5 hours a day over 3 days of the week (though not necessarily at the provider of choice).

How can I take my child's free entitlement?

Providers will offer different ways to take a free place, depending on their chosen times of delivery and their availability of places.

The local offer:

The shortest free session length that can be offered in one day is 2.5 hours. Many providers offer 3 hours as a minimum. The longest free session length that can be offered in one day is 6 hours.

Any free sessions covering a lunch period (e.g. 9am-3pm) will include the lunch time as part of the free place. A provider can charge for supplying a hot lunch to a child during this session, however parents will be offered the option of providing a packed lunch for their child to eliminate this cost.

THE LENGTH AND TIMES OF THE FREE SESSIONS WILL BE DETERMINED BY THE EARLY YEARS PROVIDER.

Early years providers will charge parents at their own rate for hours accessed outside of the free sessions.

Does my child have to take the full amount of Early Years Entitlement?

Your child may access up to 15 hours a week for 38 weeks per year. If you don't want your child to attend for the full 15 hours they can access fewer hours. However it is important to remember that children benefit from accessing the maximum number of hours per week.

Can the hours be split between different providers?

Children can access funding with up to two different providers but are still only entitled to 15 hours worth of free Early Years Provision per week. You will need to make clear to each provider how many hours you are accessing with each of them.

Can I purchase additional hours?

If your Early Years provider is able to offer you extra hours you can purchase these directly from them. You will enter into a contract with them agreeing the cost and times of these additional hours. Different providers will be able to offer you different options.

Where can I enrol my child for these funded hours?

A variety of Ofsted registered childcare providers are authorised by the Local Authority to offer funded Early Years provision. These include:

Pre-schools and Play groups
Day Nurseries
Independent Schools
Nursery Schools
Schools with Nursery Classes

I have a child who qualifies by age for funded hours. What should I do to access this funding?

You must contact your selected provider who will enrol your child for the number of funded hours you require. Your provider will include your child on their funding claim forms. The County Council will then pay your provider direct. Your only requirement is to sign a form that your provider will give you. This form merely confirms the number of funded hours that you are taking up.

You can obtain a list of registered providers in your area by contacting the Family Information Service on the free phone number 0800 195 1635.

Last Updated: 26 July 2010

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