Free early education for eligible 2 year olds

    
Eligibility for 2-year-olds

Your 2-year-old can get free early education and childcare if you get one of the following:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance 
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance 
• Universal Credit, and your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax, not including benefit payments
• tax credits, and your household income is £16,190 a year or less before tax
• the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• the Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
• child tax credit where you are not also entitled to working tax credit under the Tax Credits Act 2002 (2) and have an annual gross income not exceeding £16,190
  

2-year-olds can also get free childcare if they:

• are looked after by a local authority
• have a statement of special education needs(SEN) or an education, health and care (EHC) plan
• get Disability Living Allowance
• have left care under an adoption order, special guardianship order or a child arrangements order

You may have to pay for extra costs like meals, nappies or trips.

Disability Access Fund

The Disability Access Funding (DAF) is funding for early years providers to support children with disabilities or special educational needs. It aids access to early years places by supporting providers in making reasonable adjustments to their settings.

Providers taking three- and four-year-olds that are eligible for the Disability Access Funding will be entitled to receive a one-off payment of up to £615 per year. The Disability Access Funding is not based on an hourly rate and is an additional entitlement.

Children do not have to take up the full 570 hours of early education they are entitled to in order to receive the Disability Access Funding. Children in receipt of the Disability Access Funding will be eligible when they take-up any period of funded entitlement.

For further information email the early education support team: EarlyEducationSupportTeam@Rutland.gov.uk

Foster carers

Since September 2018 foster carers have been able to apply for fostered children where the following criterion is met:

• accessing the extended hours is consistent with the child's care plan, placing the child at the centre of the process and decision making, and

• If in a two parent family, when both partners are foster carers, both must engage in any amount of paid work outside their role as a foster carer. If one partner is not a foster carer they must meet the main criteria for working the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the national minimum or living wage as outlined above.

• If in a single parent foster family, the foster parent must also engage in any amount of paid work outside their role as foster carer.

For further information email early education support team: EarlyEducationSupportTeam@Rutland.gov.uk

If you’re a non-EEA citizen who cannot claim benefits

Your 2-year-old may get free childcare if you are getting support under the Immigration and Asylum Act

• claimed asylum in the UK and are waiting for a decision (known as ‘part 6’)
• been refused asylum in the UK (known as ‘section 4’)

A 2-year-old you care for may also get free childcare if your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax, and you have either:

• leave to remain with ‘no recourse to public funds’ on family or private life grounds
• the right to live in the UK because you’re the main carer of a British citizen (known as a 'Zambrano Carer')

Our early education support team can can tell you if your two-year-old qualifies for the free offer as well as helping you find a free place:

To find out if you are eligible for funding, contact the early education support team: email earlyeducationsupportteam@rutland.gov.uk or call 01572 758484