1.How to find registered childcare

Your Local Authority registers childminders and providers. 

To find approved childcare in your area head to Registered Childminder

2.Help with childcare costs for 2 year olds

Your 2-year-old can get free childcare if you live in England and are receiving any of the following benefits:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Universal Credit, and your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax, not including benefit payments
• The guaranteed element of Pension Credit

3.Free childcare and education for 3 and 4 year olds

All 3 to 4-year-olds in England can get 570 free hours per year. 

It’s usually taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year. You can choose to take fewer hours over more weeks, if your childcare provider offers this option.

The free early education and childcare:

• must be with an approved childcare provider
• stops when your child starts in reception class (or reaches compulsory school age, if later)

You can get it from the term after your child’s 3rd birthday, starting on 1 January, 1 April or 1 September.

4.Additional help with childcare costs

You can get help with the cost of childcare through:

1. Tax Free Childcare in the UK
2. Free childcare if you’re working in England

Both can help you to pay for childcare if it’s provided by a:

• registered childminder, nanny, playscheme, nursery or club
• childminder or nanny with a registered childminder agency or childcare agency
• registered school
• home care worker working for a registered home care agency

This is known as ‘approved childcare’.

Tax-Free Childcare can help with paying for care that is outside school hours, for example after school clubs or breakfast clubs.

5.If you receive Universal Credit

If you pay for childcare while you go to work, Universal Credit can pay some of your childcare costs. 

This includes holiday clubs, after-school clubs and breakfast clubs. If you live with a partner, you both need to be working, unless your partner cannot look after your children.

In 2024-25 you can receive up to 85% of childcare costs paid back to you. The maximum amount a month is:

• £1,014.63 for one child
• £1,739.37 for 2 or more children

If you don’t currently receive Universal Credit, you can check if you are eligible using a  benefit calculator

6.Childcare provided by relatives

If you live in England or Scotland - You can only get Tax-Free Childcare to help pay for childcare provided by a relative (for example, a grandparent) if they’re a registered childminder and care for your child outside your home.

If you live in Northern Ireland - You can only get help paying for childcare provided by a relative if all of the following apply:

• they’re in a childcare approval scheme in Northern Ireland
• they care for your child outside your home
• they care for at least one other child that is not related to you

If you live in Wales - You can only get help paying for childcare provided by a relative if they’re a registered childminder and care for your child outside your home.

7.Help with childcare while studying

You may be eligible for help with your childcare costs with a Childcare Grant if you:

• are a full-time higher education student
• have children under 15, or under 17 if they have special educational needs

The Childcare Grant:

• does not have to be paid back
• is paid on top of your other student finance

8.Looking after someone else’s child

Guardians Allowance

You could get Guardian’s Allowance if you’re bringing up a child whose parents have died. You may also be eligible if there’s one surviving parent and you receive child benefit.

Guardian’s Allowance does not count as income if you’re claiming tax credits, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance.

Guardian’s Allowance is not affected by the High Income Child Benefit charge. If you decide not to be paid Child Benefit your Guardian’s Allowance can continue.

Guardian’s Allowance does not count towards the benefit cap.

Kinship Care

You can get support and financial help if someone else’s child is living with you full time.

Your arrangement may be known as either:

1. Family and friends care (often called kinship care)
2. Private fostering

Contact your Local Council to check what services and financial support they provide.

Family and Friends Carers

You’re known as a family and friends carer if you’re a grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother, sister or family friend looking after a child who can’t be cared for by their birth parents.

You must be approved as a foster carer if the local council has officially asked you to look after a child.

If the local council didn’t ask you to look after the child you don’t have to tell them the child has come to stay with you.

If you’re giving full-time care to a child, you can get information from:

1. Kinship
2. The Family Rights Group 

Private Fostering

You’re a private foster carer if both the following apply:

1. You’re not a close relative, i.e. grandparent, brother or sister, uncle or aunt or step-parent
2. You’re looking after a child who’s under 16 (under 18 if they’re disabled) for more than 28 days in a row.

You must tell your local council about this arrangement.