When will my child’s Free Nursery Education Grant start for 3 and 4 year olds and how do I receive this?

Your child becomes eligible for a free Government Early Years Education Funded place from the start of the school term after their third birthday. This means that most three year olds will be able to start a free nursery place in the September, January or April following their third birthday.

Your child’s birthday must be before:

• 31 March will be eligible for free nursery education from the Summer Term (April)

• 31 August will be eligible for free nursery education from the Autumn Term (September)

• 31 December will be eligible for free nursery education from the Spring term (January)

These are the cut off dates.

Your child is eligible to receive 15 hours free funding for a period of 38 weeks of the year.

Parents do not need to apply for the funding. Each term the nursery provider claims on behalf of the parents for the number of sessions their child will be attending and the Local Authority will then pay the funding directly to the provider.
The funding is not paid directly to parents. Your fees will be reduced to reflect the number of free hours you wish your child to receive.