Navigating nursery childcare costs can be challenging, but the UK government continues to offer robust support to help families and nurseries manage expenses. In this update, we break down the latest government support available as of 2026 for Scotland, England, and Wales.
Navigating nursery childcare costs can be challenging, but the UK government continues to offer robust support to help families and nurseries manage expenses. In this update, we break down the latest government support available as of 2026 for Scotland, England, and Wales.
Scotland
Free Early Learning and Childcare (ELC)
Who's Eligible: Every child in Scotland is entitled to up to 1,140 hours of free early learning and childcare a year, starting the term after their third birthday and running until they start school. It's universal - it doesn't depend on your income or whether you work.
Why you'll see it called "3 to 5": Scottish schools take in new pupils once a year, in August, so children start P1 at a range of ages. The entitlement often runs into a child's fifth year. If your child is still 4 on the day they're due to start P1, you can defer and keep the funded place for that extra year.
Flexibility: This works out at around 22 hours a week if used across the full year, or up to 30 hours a week if used only during school term time.
2-Year-Olds: Some 2-year-olds are eligible too. Your child qualifies automatically if you receive Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, State Pension Credit, or support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 — with no income test attached. If you're on Universal Credit and working, there's an additional condition: your monthly household take-home pay must be £885 or less. Children who are looked after, in kinship care, or have a guardian are also eligible, as are children of care-experienced parents.
Once eligible, always eligible: if your 2-year-old qualifies, they keep their funded place until they start school, even if your circumstances change.
Read our full guide to nursery funded hours in Scotland.
Tax-Free Childcare
How It Works: Parents can claim a 20% government top-up on childcare costs, effectively paying only 80p for every £1 spent.
Limits: Up to £2,000 per year, per child (or £4,000 if the child has a disability).
Eligibility: Both parents (or a single parent) must be in work, and neither can earn more than £100,000 a year. See our guide to opening a Tax-Free Childcare account, or the full rules on GOV.UK.
Additional Initiatives
The Scottish Government continues to review childcare policies to ensure that families can access the support they need, with pilot projects in certain localities aimed at further easing the childcare journey for families.
England
England has three separate entitlements, and many families qualify for more than one. Use the Best Start in Life childcare checker to see which apply to you.
Free Childcare for Working Parents - 30 Hours, 9 Months to School Age
What has changed: the rollout completed in September 2025. Eligible working parents can now get 30 hours of funded childcare a week for children from 9 months old up to school age - not just 3 and 4-year-olds as in earlier years.
How It's Used: The funded hours are typically taken as 30 hours a week over 38 weeks of the year (term time), though providers may allow the hours to be stretched further across the year - for example around 22 hours a week over 52 weeks.
Eligibility: you and your partner each need to expect to earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage over the next 3 months, and neither of you can have an adjusted net income over £100,000.
Universal Entitlement for 3- and 4-Year-Olds - 15 Hours
Standard Provision: Every 3 and 4-year-old in England is entitled to 570 hours a year of free early education (around 15 hours a week over 38 weeks), regardless of parents' work status. If you also meet the working-parent rules, this is topped up to 30 hours.
Early Learning for 2-Year-Olds -15 Hours
Your 2-year-old can get 15 hours a week for 38 weeks without you needing to work if you receive Universal Credit and your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax (not counting benefit payments), or if you get Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, or the guaranteed element of Pension Credit. Children with an EHC plan or Disability Living Allowance, children in care, and children who have left care under an adoption, special guardianship or child arrangements order also qualify.
If you're eligible for this and you work, you may be able to add another 15 hours through Free Childcare for Working Parents - 30 hours in total. Where you qualify for both, apply for Early Learning for 2-year-olds first.
Read our full guide to nursery funded hours in England.
Tax-Free Childcare & Universal Credit Childcare Element
Tax-Free Childcare: Available to all eligible families, providing the same 20% top-up on childcare expenses as in previous years.
Universal Credit: Families receiving Universal Credit can still claim up to 85% of childcare costs, with the maximum monthly amount families can reclaim rising in April 2026 to £1,071.09 for one child and £1,836.16 for two or more children.
Wales
Free Childcare for 3- and 4-Year-Olds
What's Offered: Working parents of 3 and 4-year-olds can get up to 30 hours a week of combined nursery education and childcare - at least 10 hours of nursery education plus up to 20 hours of childcare - for up to 48 weeks a year, covering some school holidays as well as term time.
Eligibility: Both parents (or a single parent) must be employed, earning on average at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum or Living Wage, with income no more than £100,000 a year. Apply via the Childcare Offer for Wales.
Read our full guide to nursery funded hours in Wales.
Flying Start Programme
In designated areas, the Flying Start programme provides free childcare for 2- to 3-year-olds - 12.5 hours a week, taken as 2.5 hours a day over five days, for 39 weeks a year. It's aimed at giving young children from lower-income families a strong educational foundation before they reach school.
Coverage is widening. The Welsh Government announced a further £55 million investment in June 2026 to accelerate the rollout of 12.5 hours a week to all 2-year-olds. Flying Start has historically been targeted at specific postcodes, so it's worth checking yours with your local council even if you've been told before that you're not in an eligible area.
Tax-Free Childcare & Universal Credit
Availability: Just like in Scotland and England, eligible families in Wales can benefit from Tax-Free Childcare and the Universal Credit childcare element, ensuring broader access to childcare funding.
Which schemes can be combined?
| Combination | Allowed? |
|---|---|
| Funded hours + Tax-Free Childcare | Yes |
| Funded hours + Universal Credit childcare element | Yes |
| Tax-Free Childcare + Universal Credit childcare element | No - choose one |
Frequently asked questions
In England, eligible working parents of children aged nine months to school age can claim 30 hours a week during term time. You and your partner (if you have one) must each expect to earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the National Minimum Wage over the next three months, and neither can have an adjusted net income over £100,000 a year. All three- and four-year-olds get 15 hours regardless of income, and some two-year-olds get 15 hours through Early Learning for 2-year-olds if you receive Universal Credit and earn £15,400 a year or less after tax, or get certain other benefits.
You can apply from when your child is 23 weeks old. The funding then starts the term after your child turns nine months, meaning 1 September, 1 January or 1 April, depending on when their birthday falls. Apply through the government's Best Start in Life childcare checker (which replaced Childcare Choices in September 2025) and give your 11-digit code to your nursery before the term begins. Deadlines are the day before term starts: 31 August, 31 December and 31 March.
Tax-Free Childcare adds £2 for every £8 you pay into your childcare account (effectively a 20% discount) up to a maximum of £2,000 per child each year (£4,000 if your child is disabled). Both parents must be working, and neither can earn over £100,000 a year. For a walkthrough of setting one up, see our guide to opening a Tax-Free Childcare account.
Yes. If you are on Universal Credit and in work, you can claim back up to 85% of your childcare costs, up to a monthly cap of £1,071.09 for one child or £1,836.16 for two or more children from April 2026. You pay your provider first and are reimbursed afterwards, so it is worth planning for that gap. You cannot use this at the same time as Tax-Free Childcare.
Yes, funded hours and Tax-Free Childcare can be combined. Your funded hours reduce the bill, and Tax-Free Childcare tops up what is left. What you cannot do is combine Tax-Free Childcare with the Universal Credit childcare element; you have to choose one.
No. In England, funded hours cover 38 weeks a year, which lines up with school term time. If you need childcare during the holidays you will usually pay for those weeks, or your nursery may offer a "stretched" arrangement that spreads the funded hours across all 52 weeks at a lower weekly rate. Wales funds up to 48 weeks, and Scotland's 1,140 hours can be spread across the year, around 22 hours a week over 52 weeks, or up to 30 hours a week in term time.
In England, yes. To keep Free Childcare for Working Parents you must sign in to your childcare account every three months and confirm your details are still up to date. Miss a reconfirmation and you can lose your funded place, so set a reminder.
Tax-Free Childcare works the same way wherever you live in the UK it stops if you don't reconfirm every three months.
In Scotland, the 1,140 hours is universal and there's no reconfirmation. If your two-year-old qualifies for a funded place, they keep it until they start school even if your circumstances change.
In Wales, check the reconfirmation cycle for the Childcare Offer with your local authority.
