Nursery hours?

You can see what you’re eligible for on the government website, it is changing to 15hrs free from 9 months old in September 2025. x

The 15 hours funded for 9 month olds came in Sept 2024, my daughter has this now. It then goes up to 30 hours for 9 month olds in Sept 2025. So your little one will get the 15 funded hours until the 30 come in September 😊

Check your eligibility on the gov.uk website. Remember you'll need a nursery place confirmed before you can use any funded hours though and waiting lists can be long. Definitely think of it as funded rather than free as there'll always be something to pay. The amount the government give doesn't cover the costs.

If you're working and earn over a certain amount then you'll be eligible for 15 funded hours. This will be from the term starting on or after 1st January if you return to work before 30th January, or from the term starting on or after 1st April if you return to work before 30th April. From September, this will increase to 30 funded hours. The hours are term time only, so it is less than 15/30 hours a week if its spread across the whole year. Nurseries can also set fixed core/funded hours, so the nursery my LG will go to is funded hours between 9am-3pm (so she'll have 2½ funded days to start) whereas another we looked at had a slightly higher daily rate but you could use the hours any time they were open (so could've done 1½ funded days of 7.30am-5.30pm).