Nursery Funding Explained: What You Need to Know About Early Years Funding

Navigating nursery funding can feel a bit like trying to solve a puzzle, with lots of terms, dates, and conditions that don’t always make sense. At Poppies, we completely understand how confusing it can be for families trying to plan ahead. This guide is here to help you make sense of it all, what’s actually covered, what isn’t, and how to plan your childcare costs so there are no surprises along the way.

You can also visit Best Start in Life | Wiltshire Council for official information and updates from the local authority. 

 

The Basics: What Is Early Years Funding?

The Government offers funded childcare to help families access early education and support parents returning to work. Depending on your child’s age and your circumstances, you may be entitled to 15 or 30 hours of funded childcare per week.

But (and this is where it gets complicated) these hours aren’t as simple as they sound. Funding is allocated per term, not per week, and nurseries like ours “stretch” these hours over the whole term (because we’re not term-time only).

Here’s a basic guide to how this looks in practice for a child receiving 30 hours of funding:

Essentially, the Government sets the total funded hours per term, and these are distributed over the number of weeks the nursery is open, giving you a set number of funded hours per week.

What the Nursery Funding Covers (and What It Doesn’t)

It’s really important to understand that funding only covers the childcare hours themselves, not the full cost of attending nursery.
The Government provides a fixed amount per hour, which doesn’t always cover the actual cost of delivering high-quality childcare (qualified staff, meals, activities, resources, etc.).

So while your child’s “funded hours” are free at the point of use, there are additional costs for things like:

• Meals, snacks, and consumables
• Trips or special activities
• Extra sessions or hours outside of the funded allocation

We’re always transparent about how this works, and we’ll go through your nursery funding details together before your child starts so you know exactly what’s included.

Applying for Funding and Why Timing Matters

This is one of the trickiest parts! To access your nursery funding, you need to apply for an eligibility code through Childcare & Early Years Education | Best Start in Life

Once you have your code, you must give it to the nursery before the start of term so that we can verify and apply your funding.  We’ll also ask you to complete a short permission form allowing us to verify your code, please return this to us as soon as possible.

There are three Nursery funding terms each year:

• Spring: 1 January – 31 March
• Summer: 1 April – 31 August
• Autumn: 1 September – 23 December

Applications for nursery funding close before each new term, so if you miss the deadline (for example, 31st August for Autumn), you won’t be able to access your funded hours until the next term begins.

That means if you start a new job in September but missed the August deadline, you might not receive your nursery funding until the start of the new term in January. Understandably, that can make planning, or even accepting a job offer really difficult for families. It’s one of the main frustrations with the system, which aims to support working parents but can sometimes have the opposite effect in practice.

Reconfirming Your Eligibility

Once you’ve received your funding code, it’s important to reconfirm your eligibility every 3 months.  It is your responsibility to do this so that we can continue to apply the funding to your account.

If you forget or do it too late, your code may expire, or if it falls into its “grace period,” before the start of the term it means your funded hours can’t be used until the following term.

You’ll usually get reminder emails from HMRC, but it’s a good idea to set your own reminders too. We’ll also do our best to prompt you, as your nursery can only apply the funding once your code is valid and verified.

 

Stretching Funding at Poppies

We stretch funding across each term to give you consistent, manageable childcare hours each week throughout that term.

This means:

• You still receive all your entitled hours over the course of the year
• Funding is distributed evenly across your child’s regular attendance for that term
• You don’t lose out if you’re attending more consistently.
  

If your child only attends part-time (for example, three school days a week), we can only claim for the hours they’re actually in nursery.

Planning Ahead

Here are our top tips for staying on top of nursery funding:

1. Apply early! Don’t wait until term starts. Check deadlines at least a month in advance.
2. Set reminders to reconfirm your code every 3 months.
3. Share your code with us as soon as possible, we can’t apply your funding without it.
4. Check your attendance pattern so you know how your hours are stretched.
5. Ask questions. We know it’s complicated, and we’re always happy to explain how it works for your specific situation.

A Final Word

We know the nursery funding system can feel unnecessarily complicated, both for parents and for nurseries trying to manage it. The good news is that once you’re set up, things do run more smoothly, and we’re here to support you through every step.

At Poppies, we believe every family deserves clear information, flexible childcare, and a nursery that truly cares. So if you’re unsure about anything, or just want to check your eligibility, please chat to us. We’ll help you work out what’s best for your family.

Visit Best Start in Life | Wiltshire Council and Childcare & Early Years Education | Best Start in Life for the latest updates.