Funded play and childcare places for 2 year olds

• Early Education gives children the chance to learn, play and make new friends    
• Early Education gives children some preparation for starting school
• You can arrange childcare to fit around your personal needs

The eligibility criteria for funded two year olds

Your 2-year-old can get free childcare if you live in England and get any 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
• the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit (or both), and your household income is £16,190 a year or less before tax
• 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
• have an education, health and care (EHC) plan
• get Disability Living Allowance
• have left care under an adoption order, special guardianship order or a child arrangements order

You may have to pay for extra costs like meals, nappies or trips.

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

If your immigration status says you have ‘no recourse to public funds’, you may still get free childcare for your 2-year-old. You must live in England and your household income must be no more than:

• £26,500 for families outside of London with one child
• £34,500 for families within London with one child
• £30,600 for families outside of London with two or more children
• £38,600 for families within London with two or more children

You cannot have more than £16,000 in savings or investments.

The age your child becomes eligible

The following dates show when your child is eligible for their Early Education Entitlement. 

Applying where you are in receipt of benefits

If you meet the following economic criteria you must apply online at https://fiso.redbridge.gov.uk/Synergy/Core_Live/SynergyWeb/Parents/default.aspx.  

You will need to provide a variety of information including your National Insurance number and you and your child's details on the system.

• 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
• the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit (or both), and your household income is £16,190 a year or less before tax
• the Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)

You can watch a video tutorial on applying for two year old funding on the Redbridge Parent Portal here. 

Applying where your child meets the additional criteria

If your child meets one of the following additional criteria you must complete a manual application and email the form, along with the required evidence, to find@redbridge.gov.uk. 

• The child is looked after by a local council
• The child has a current education, health and care (EHC) plan
• The child is in receipt of Disability Living Allowance
• The child has left care under a special guardianship order, child arrangements order or adoption order

The form can be downloaded here. 

Applying where your family has no recourse to public funds

If you are a non-UK citizen and your immigration status says you have 'no recourse to public funds' you may also be eligible. Your annual household income must be no more than:

• £26,500 for families outside of London with one child
• £34,500 for families within London with one child
• £30,600 for families outside of London with two or more children
• £38,600 for families within London with two or more children

You cannot have more than £16,000 in savings or investments.

The form can be downloaded here. 

You can find a full list of participating childcare settings here. If you would like further support in finding a suitable provider please contact FiND.

It is important to ensure that what your chosen provider can offer is right for you and your child. You should discuss your requirements with the provider prior to coming to an agreement.

The early learning place can provide up to 15 hours a week of funded early education. It is usually either offered as a term time only place of 38 weeks per year (15 hours per week), or as a stretched offer over 51 weeks (up to 11.17 hours per week).

Different settings will provide the early years places in different ways, however sessions must meet the following conditions:

• No session is longer than 10 hours
• Early learning must take place between 6.00am and 8.00pm
• Funding may be taken across no more than three settings and at a maximum of two premises in a single day

Whether you wish to access just the funded early learning place or if you choose to access additional hours or services, the provider’s offer to you should always be clear and transparent. Where you are accessing any unfunded hours or additional services you should ensure this is clearly explained by your provider and a contract is put in place that clearly states the agreement. You should ask to see this before committing to a childcare place. If you are in any doubt, ask questions before agreeing to a place.

Children can start their funded early education place during certain times of the year. Children should start their place as follows, where possible:

• Spring term (January to March) - By the 3rd Thursday in January
• Summer term (April to August) - By the 3rd Thursday in May
• Autumn term (September to December) - By the 1st Thursday in October

If you miss this deadline and want to take up a place before the next term starts, then you will need to consider the following:

• The funding cannot be started towards the end of a term. You can check the cut-off date for each term with your chosen Redbridge setting
• Not all settings are able to accomodate children starting later in the term and they have the right to refuse funded entry after the termly headcount, even if the adjustment deadline has not yet passed
• If your child is already attending a funded place in another setting you must give notice prior to the termly cut off and must not start a new funded place until the end of your child's notice period. You will be charged for any hours you have accessed over and above your child's entitlement. If you access additional paid hours and services then you will need to ensure that you are meeting any contractual notice periods for these also. You should inform the new provider that your child was previously attending another setting

If you have missed the deadline for starting your child this term, please discuss when funding will next be available with your chosen early years setting. You may still be able to start this term but would likely need to pay for this, or alternatively wait until the following term to access a funded early learning place.

Children can move their funded early education place from one setting to another during certain times of the year. If you intend to move your child, then you will need to consider the following:

• The funding cannot be moved from one setting to another towards the end of a term. You can check the cut-off date with your Redbridge setting
• You should give the setting that your child is leaving as much notice as possible. From 1 April 2020 you must give at least 4 weeks written notice and will be unable to access funding at another provision until 4 weeks from the notice given, or from the child's last day of attendance. If your child does not return to their setting in the new term and you have not advised the previous setting your 4 weeks notice will start from the first day of term and you will be unable to claim funding at a new setting during this time
• If you access additional paid hours and services then you will need to ensure that you are meeting any contractual notice periods
• You should inform the new provider that your child was previously attending another setting

If you have missed the deadline for moving your child, please discuss this with the early years setting at the earliest opportunity. You will likely need to pay for the remainder of the term or alternatively wait until the following term to access a funded early learning place.

You are able to claim your funded early learning place at up to three different settings, as long as they are not based on more than two premises. For example, your child could access a breakfast club and nursery class at a school, followed by a childminder. Where you are accessing a place at more than one setting please ensure that you are clear with all settings how many hours of funded early learning that they are each offering your child.

Where your child is attending more than one setting you will need to ensure that the settings include this information on your Redbridge Parent/Carer Declaration Form.

The offer of a funded early education and childcare place must be offered ‘free at the point of delivery’. This means that if your child is only receiving the funded hours without any additional paid hours or services then you will not be expected to make any payment to the provider to access your child’s place.

The funded early learning place also only covers the cost of your chlid’s care and early learning. If you are only accessing the funded early learning place then you can choose to provide a packed lunch which would not incur an additional cost, or pay the additional fee for any meals and/or snacks provided by the setting.

If you wish to access any additional hours outside of the funded place, then you will have the option to pay for additional hours. Where your child accesses additional services (such as meals, nappies and other consumables) your provider is entitled to charge for these services.

All childcare providers should have a clear and concise charging policy so that there is no misunderstanding of any costs. The arrangements for payment are a private matter between providers and parents.

If you are asked to pay for your child’s funded early education and childcare place in advance, or if you have any concerns about how your child’s funded place has been calculated you can contact FiND for further advice. Please see the section ‘Further advice and support’ below.

If you have not yet accessed a place for your child then unfortunately you will no longer be eligible to access the funded early education place.

If your child is already accessing their funded early education place then they may continue to do so until they become eligible for the funded early education places for three and four year olds.

There are some circumstances where funding may be withdrawn from an early years setting and that they would not be able to offer two- and/or three- and four- year old funded places. 

What happens next will vary depending on the individual circumstances but below are some examples of what you can expect if a setting stops being eligible to offer funded places. 

Suspension by Ofsted

If Ofsted suspend an early years setting they will need to cease caring for any children and therefore, early years funding would also stop. We would await the outcome of any investigation before deciding what happens next.

We would usually be able to offer that children accessing a funded place in a suspended setting could transfer their funded place to an alternative setting.

Inadequate inspection rating by Ofsted

No action would be taken until Ofsted publish a setting's Inadequate inspection report. Once published, we would usually look to withdraw funding for two, three and four year olds but would usually offer at least half a terms notice to the setting and their funded parents/carers.  

We would also take other circumstances into consideration, such as children due to move to school soon and availability of places in other Good or Outstanding settings. 

Requires Improvement inspection rating by Ofsted

No action would be taken until Ofsted publish a setting's Requires Improvement inspection report. Once published, we would usually look to withdraw funding for two year olds (not three and four year olds) but would usually offer at least half a terms notice to the setting and their funded parents/carers.  

We would also take other circumstances into consideration, such as availability of places in other Good or Outstanding settings. 

You can watch a video with our most Frequently Asked Questions answered at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBuL-kDNJGQ.

For further information and support please contact Families Information Direct (FiND) 

Please contact FiND  in the first instance. If FiND are unable to reach a satisfactory conclusion to your query and you wish to register a complaint (either regarding a dispute associated with your child's Free Early Education Entitlement place within a setting or the policies mentioned in this guidance) this should be raised in accordance with the Redbridge complaints policy. Full details of the London Borough of Redbridge Complaints Procedure can be viewed on www.redbridge.gov.uk/complaints.