Can anyone shed some light on the free childcare hours in Scotland?
I’ve been doing research on the free childcare hours care hours and feel I am now more confused than when I started. My understanding is child from 3 are entitled to 30 hours free childcare. A private nursery we looked at told us you can only use these hours during term time, if we want to send them for 50 weeks of the year( they are closed 2 weeks over Christmas) we have to pay for the additional 12 weeks, which the cost of this is spread over the 12 months of the year.
Does the 15 hours free childcare I keep reading about for under 3 only apply in England or if you have special circumstances/ benefits etc?
In Scotland what if both parents work, are there any funded hours to help with under 3’s?
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My son goes full time in nursery and has got the 30hours, never heard of the fact they are term time 🤔 unless I missed it (could be) as my son goes full day so only half day is funded but I asked another mom and she said she's never heard of it being only for term time.
In Scotland we don't have the 15h, only Scotland.
No funded hours under 3 unless of disabilities I think. We get the tax free childcare and that's all :)
So there’s nurseries that are open 50 weeks of the year and nurseries that are open 38 weeks so you need to look at which nurseries are open 50 if you don’t want to pay an additional 12 weeks. You can usually check this on your local council website.
If you go for a 50 week nursery, you get 2.5 days for the 30 hours as it’s spread over a longer period and works out at 22.8hrs per week rather than 30. If you go for a 38 week nursery, you get a bit more.
The 15hr funding is only in England and doesn’t apply. I’ve also been advised it most likely won’t which is infuriating!
Some children in Scotland are entitled to childcare from 2 but you need to be a low income family on benefits - again, infuriating when working parents need it!
As Jordan says. Also it starts the first school term after your child turns 3 😭 mine is a May child so I won't be eligible until September 😭
What Jordan said. Also as others have mentioned, it’s for the term after they turn 3. So my wee girl is a September baby, she got her free hours starting in January. She goes to nursery 50 weeks of the year so it works out 2 full days for her. It’s 1140 hours over the year I think, so if that’s term time (38 weeks) it equates to 30 hours per week or if it’s 50 it’s 22 I think.
I don’t think we get the free 15 hours I think it’s just England. Then there is different schemes for people on benefits etc. what they’ve said is right my boy went to a term time nursery so his nursery was fully funded. You just need to top up the rest if you go to a nursery that’s not term time as it’s longer hours xx
Just to confuse you more it’s not always the term after they turn 3. I’m in Glasgow and my boy turns 3 in oct. We can access his funding the Monday after his 3rd birthday. But as others have stated the 30 hours is for term time funding. If you want a 50 week nursery they spread the hours out so it’s like 22.8 hrs a week you get. The nursery you pick should advise.
Nothing for under 3s unless you meet a certain criteria list which should be on your council/government website, other than tax free childcare, which you can still use alongside your funded hours. You don’t have to pick and choose.
this is the same in West Lothian. They’re eligible for the funding from the day of their 3rd birthday. Not the term after.
You can get potentially get Tax Free Childcare if not on other benefits or childcare vouchers through your work. https://www.gov.uk/childcare-calculator?step-by-step-nav=d78aeaf6-1747-4d72-9619-f16efb4dd89d
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