Me & my partner are both in work, he makes £1,300 a month and I make a minimum of about £400 a month. Our 2 year old son is in nursery two days a week costing us £400/£450 a month. I’ve looked into getting nursery funding but according to the internet, we’re not eligible. Does this sound right? I know this might change when he turns 3 but when I mentioned not being eligible to the nursery, they seemed a bit shocked so I thought it was worth asking here incase anyone makes around the same amount & gets funding. Thanks! ☺️
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To get the 30 hours of funded childcare in England, you (and your partner) must each earn at least the minimum wage for 16 hours a week, which is £2,643.68 every three months (approx. £203 a week) for those aged 21+, but less for younger workers. You cannot have an adjusted net income over £100,000 per year. I'm glad my little one is over 3 now as we can get the 15 hours with my husband still being a stay at home dad 😊

To get the expanded 15 hours of funded childcare (for children aged 9 months to 3 years), you must earn at least the minimum wage for 16 hours a week. As of April 2026, this usually means earning over £203.36 a week (


) or £195.36 a week (


) per parent, and less than £100,000 annually.

I believe both partners must be earning at least £183 per week on average to qualify which is roughly 16 hours a week at minimum wage, so you could not be eligible because of your earnings a below the threshold for it.