Universal childcare entitlement

Official government guidance | Legislation

Program description¶

Overview¶

A universal program providing free childcare for all 3-4 year olds in England. Each eligible child receives 570 hours of free childcare annually, typically delivered as 15 hours per week across 38 weeks of the year. Parents may arrange different hour distributions if their provider offers flexibility.

Key features¶

Provider requirements¶

The free childcare must be delivered through an approved childcare provider.

Regional scope¶

This program applies to England only. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland operate their own distinct childcare support schemes.

Implementation¶

The universal childcare entitlement program is implemented through a combination of parameter definitions and variable calculations:

1. Parameter Definition¶

Located in parameters/gov/dfe/universal_childcare_entitlement/, key parameters include:

• Program eligibility:

  • min_age.yaml: Defines the minimum eligible age (3 years)

  • compulsory_school_age.yaml: Sets the upper age limit

  • hours.yaml: Specifies the 15 hours per week entitlement

• Funding parameters:

  • childcare_funding_rate.yaml: Defines the hourly funding rates

2. Eligibility Determination¶

Implemented in universal_childcare_entitlement_eligible.py, which checks:

• Geographic eligibility:

  • Verifies residence in England using country variable

  • Based on Childcare Regulations 2016 (part 33)

• Age requirements:

  • Checks child meets minimum age requirement

  • Ensures child is below compulsory school age

  • Stops in the terms after the child starts school: a reception place, taken up in the September following the fourth birthday, meets the entitlement (DfE statutory guidance, footnotes 7 and 17, C.5). early_years_term_share_before_school gives the share of the year’s terms before that, from the date of birth, so most 4-year-olds keep only the summer term; early_years_school_start_deferred keeps the year for a deferred start

  • Referenced in Section 7 of Childcare Act 2006

Example table:

3. Entitlement Calculation¶

Handled by universal_childcare_entitlement.py:

• Defined at the person level (entity = Person)

• Only calculated for eligible individuals (defined_for = "universal_childcare_entitlement_eligible")

• Uses parameters to:

  • Get weekly hours entitlement

  • Apply appropriate funding rate based on age

  • Calculate total annual value

Example table for 2024-25, for a child in England. The model’s year has three terms, beginning on 1 April 2024, 1 September 2024 and 1 January 2025. Each row gives the child’s age on 6 October 2024 and the birth dates that produce its amount. The children aged 3 and 4 turned 3 before 1 April 2024 and start reception in September 2025, so they get universal hours in all three terms. A child who turns 3 later in the year, or who starts reception during it, gets fewer terms: a 3-year-old born on 1 April 2021 gets £2,234.40, and a 4-year-old born on 31 August 2020, who starts reception in September 2024, gets £1,117.20 for the summer term.

A 2-year-old born from 7 October to 31 December 2021 turns 3 before 1 January 2025, so it gets universal hours in the spring term: £1,117.20.