Fees And Funding

Apple Blossom Nursery offers government-funded childcare places, including:

• 15 hours funded childcare
• 30 hours funded childcare for eligible working families
• Tax-Free Childcare

As an Ofsted-registered early years provider in England, we are able to offer government-funded early education and childcare for children aged 3–4 years, and in some cases for 2-year-olds.

Funding for Two-Year-Olds

Families with children aged two years old may be eligible for 15 hours per week of funded childcare and education for 38 weeks of the year if they receive one of the following benefits:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Universal Credit (with a household income of £15,400 or less per year after tax, excluding benefits)
• Guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit (or both) with a household income of £16,190 or less before tax
• Working Tax Credit 4-week run-on (the payment received when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)

A child may also be eligible if they:

• Are looked after by a local authority
• Have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan
• Receive Disability Living Allowance
• Have left care under an adoption order, special guardianship order, or a child arrangements order

Funding for Three- and Four-Year-Olds

All children aged three and four years old are entitled to 15 hours per week of funded childcare and early education for 38 weeks of the year, regardless of household income or parents’ working status. This is known as the universal entitlement.

Eligible working families may also qualify for 30 hours per week of funded childcare for 38 weeks of the year.

Parents can choose to:

• Use their funded hours with more than one childcare provider
• Stretch hours over up to 50 weeks, depending on provider availability.

To qualify for the 30 hours funding, each parent (or the sole parent in a single-parent household) must:

• Earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours per week at the National Minimum Wage
• Earn less than £100,000 per year

When Funding Starts

Government-funded early education begins the term after your child’s third birthday:

Child’s 3rd Birthday                           Funding Starts

1 April – 31 August                               September Term

1 September – 31 December            January Term

1 January – 31 March                           April Term

Check Eligibility

You can check your eligibility and apply for funded childcare through the following websites:

• www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
• www.gov.uk/childcare-calculator

If you qualify for 30 hours funding, you will be directed to the Digital Childcare Service to complete your application.

We recommend that parents apply early and reconfirm their eligibility regularly to avoid missing out on funded hours.

Fees

Our fees information PDF is available to download on this page.

Apple Blossom Nursery does not charge for additional items.

We provide healthy snacks each day, which may include:

• Bananas
• Apples
• Carrots
• Cucumbers