UK funded childcare entitlements

30 funded hours from 9 months — the September 2025 rollout

The September 2025 expansion is the biggest shift to funded childcare in a decade. Working parents of children aged 9 months and over can now claim 30 funded hours a week — up from a 15-hour entitlement that started six months earlier. Here is what childminders need to know to invoice and report correctly.

Last updated 6 May 2026 · 5 min read

1. The full rollout timeline

The Spring Budget 2023 expansion rolled out in four stages:

Date	Who became eligible	Hours
April 2024	Working parents of 2-year-olds	15h
September 2024	Working parents of 9 months – 2 years	15h
September 2025	Working parents of 9 months → school start	30h
Pre-existing	All 3–4 year olds (universal)	15h
Pre-existing	Working parents of 3–4 year olds	30h
Pre-existing	Disadvantaged 2-year-olds	15h

2. Eligibility — what parents need

The parent (and their partner, if they have one) must each:

Earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Living Wage over the next 3 months.
Earn under £100,000 individually (it's an income cap, not a household one).
Reconfirm eligibility every 3 months on the GOV.UK Childcare Service.

The child must be at least 9 months old on the cut-off date for the term. The cut-off dates are 31 August (autumn term), 31 December (spring), and 31 March (summer).

3. What this means for childminders

Three practical changes:

More children on funded hours. Babies and toddlers in working-parent households are now in scope. The share of your children claiming funded hours is much higher than it was in 2024.
More hours per child. A child whose family qualifies can now claim 30 funded hours from 9 months — twice the previous default. If you offer 50 hours of care a week, 30 of them might now be funded.
Top-up fees still banned. Since April 2025 you cannot charge the gap between your hourly rate and the funding rate. You absorb that gap on funded hours, and recover other costs (food, consumables, activities) as voluntary, itemised extras.

The mechanics of invoicing under the new entitlement are governed by the January 2026 invoice rules — read that next.

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Frequently asked questions

Who is eligible for the 30 funded hours from 9 months?

Working parents (and their partner, if they have one) where each is generally expected to earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Living Wage and individually earns under £100,000. The child must be at least 9 months old. Eligibility is checked by the parent through the GOV.UK Childcare Service every 3 months.

When does the entitlement start for a particular child?

The term after the child turns 9 months old, provided the parent has applied and received an eligibility code. Terms start in September, January, and April. So a child turning 9 months in October starts funded hours in January (the first day of the spring term).

How many funded hours per week, and over how many weeks?

30 hours per week over 38 weeks of the year (term-time), totalling 1,140 hours per year. You can agree to "stretch" these across up to 52 weeks with the parent — which works out to about 22 hours a week, but lets the parent claim funded hours during school holidays.

Do I have to offer funded hours? What if my rates are higher than the funding rate?

No — taking funded children is your choice. You will not necessarily make money on funded hours alone (the local authority rate is usually below your normal rate). But you cannot charge a "top-up" fee to bridge the gap (banned since April 2025). You can charge for additional paid hours, food, consumables, and activities — itemised on the invoice — but those must be voluntary, not a condition of taking the funded place.

How do I get paid by the local authority?

You agree the funding pattern with the parent and submit a Headcount return through the local authority funding portal each term. The local authority pays you directly (not the parent). You still issue the parent an invoice that itemises the funded hours at £0 alongside any extras you have charged for.

What changed for childminders specifically in September 2025?

Prior to September 2025, the only 30-hour entitlement was for working parents of 3–4 year olds. From September 2025, that 30-hour entitlement extended down to children aged 9 months and over. For most childminders, this means a much larger share of children are now on funded hours — and more of them are funded for longer hours.

Sources & further reading

General guidance, not legal or tax advice. Always check the live GOV.UK page and your local authority funding portal for current eligibility and rates.