home farm nursery tenterden, tenterden home farm nursery
Free Early Education

15 and 30 hours Free Educational Entitlement.

In England, all 3 and 4-year-olds are entitled to 15 hours per week of free early education (38 weeks a year). 

Eligible working parents of children aged 9 months to 4 years can access 30 hours of free childcare. Some 2-year-olds are eligible for 15 hours based on specific support/income criteria. Applications are made via the GOV.UK website. 

Eligibility Criteria: For working parents, both parents must work (or one in a single-parent family) and earn, on average, at least the minimum wage for 16 hours/week, but less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. 

How to Apply: Apply online through the Childcare Choices website to get an 11-digit eligibility code.

Deadlines: You must apply for the term before your child is eligible. Reconfirmation of details is required every 3 months.

At Home Farm we do not stipulate when you can access your free hours, i.e by only offering afternoons as your free sessions. You can access your sessions in any combination, i.e. 2 mornings and 2 full days, or 3 full days or if your child attends another setting you can split the hours between the two.