From the term after your child is either 9 months old or 2-years-old, you may be eligible to receive up to 15 hours per week of government funded childcare for 38 weeks of the year. Eligibility is dependent on meeting certain criteria.

Further information and an eligibility checker are available on the Lancashire County Council website.

From the term after your child’s third birthday, all 3 and 4-year-old children are able to receive up to 15 hours per week of government funded childcare for 38 weeks of the year.

From the term after your child’s third birthday, in addition to the Universal Funding, you may be eligible to receive a further 15 hours per week of government funded childcare for 38 weeks of the year.

To qualify, each parent – or the sole parent in a single-parent family – must be earning a weekly minimum income equivalent to 16 hours at National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage. Self-employed parents and those on zero-hours contracts will be eligible if they meet the average earnings criteria.

Families where each parent – or the sole parent in a single-parent family – earns more than £100,000 per year are not eligible for 30 hours. Households where one parent is not in paid employment would not usually qualify, though there are exceptions for those on parental, maternity, paternity, adoption or sick leave.

For further information about eligibility, please speak to a member of the Pre-School team or visit the Lancashire County Council Early Years Funding page.