Childcare funding

Funding information

Young girl

Early years consultation 2026/2027

The Early years funding consultation paper 2026/2027 (PDF, 208.6 KB) outlines the changes to funding arrangements for maintained schools, academies, free schools and early years providers from April 2026.

Funding rates effective from 1st April 2026:

9 months funding rate - £13.61
2 year old funding rate - £9.69
3 and 4 year old funding rate - £6.76

EYPP national funding rates

The national funding rate for EYPP will increase at £1.15 per eligible child per universal hour.

DAF national funding rates (9mths, 2, 3 and 4 year olds)

The national funding rate for DAF will be £975 per eligible child per year.

Funding dates 2025/2026

In accordance with the guide to the free entitlement, please find below funding dates:

Funding dates 2025 to 2026

Funding rates:

9 months funding rate - £13.21
2 year old funding rate - £9.40
3 and 4 year old funding rate - £6.28

Early years pupil premium national funding rates (9mths, 2, 3 and 4 year olds)

Early years pupil premium (EYPP) funding is designed to support providers and childminders to narrow the attainment gap between young children aged 9mths, 2, 3 and 4, who's families meet the eligibility criteria. The funding is paid directly to the providers which is linked to the entitlement funding claimed hours. The annual value for a 15-hour place over a full year is £570, £1.00 per hour per eligible child.

DAF national funding rates (9mths, 2, 3 and 4 year olds)

The national funding rate for DAF will be £938 per eligible child per year.

Estimated hours

When the estimates are open, log into the Provider Portal and submit your estimates. Failing to do so, will result in your estimate payment being delayed.

Please note

Any child (2yr/3-4yr old) who is attending your provision and is also attending a school nursery (including academies) will be claiming the 3 and 4 year old Free Entitlement (Universal Funded Hours) at that setting and will therefore be unable to claim those funded hours at your provision. It is important to clarify with the parent the total funded hours that the child is entitled to (15hrs Terrific Two/15hrs Universal/15hrs Extended) and deduct the funded hours claimed at the school setting from their overall funded entitlement to determine the remaining available funded hours that can be claimed at your setting.

The length of each Funding Period as specified by the 'Start and End Dates' do not necessarily match with the actual number of funded weeks within a Funding Period. However, providers can choose their start and end dates within the specified dates, as long as, in total they are open for the specified Termly funded weeks.

In accordance with the Guide to the Free Entitlement, providers should only operate outside the above number of funded weeks within each Funding Period with the express written agreement of the Early Years' Team, which must be obtained prior to any changes being advised to parents. If agreement is given by the Early Years' Team and this results in a setting offering less than 38 weeks 'Free Entitlement, 30 hours or Terrific Twos', providers must ensure that they give parents adequate notice that their child will be receiving less than their full entitlement and that this shortfall cannot be made up later.

School term dates

Please note that the academic school year runs at 39 weeks, where as the PVI, Voluntary Sector runs at 38 weeks. This enables settings to have one week's flexibility in the autumn term to either start or finish one week early.

View school term dates.

Summer born children - advice for parents

Guidance for parents on requesting a delayed school start for children born in the summer.

Deferral into reception

Where a parent or carer chooses to defer or delay their child's entry to school, as long as they remain within a nursery provision, the child remains entitled to a funded early education place of 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year, until they are admitted to school (the term following their fifth birthday).

Once the child reaches compulsory school age and is admitted into a full time reception place in a state-funded school or independent school, parents/carers cannot claim funded childcare for 3 to 4 year old early years education including the 30 hours for the child.

Parents/carers must be made fully aware that they need to make a separate application for a reception place as part of the main admissions round (unless the request was made too late for this to be possible).

Children who are deferred will not be given any priority on the basis that the child is being admitted out of their normal age group.

Further funding information

30 hours funding for providers

This page is dedicated for providers to get up to date information on the 30 hours childcare funding for eligible working families with 9 month to 4 year olds.

Application deadline dates

Term	If the child turns 9 months old between	Parent must apply before
Autumn	1 April to 31 August	31 August
Spring	1 September to 31 December	31 December
Summer	1 January to 31 March	31 March

Please note: Families can apply for their code up to 16 weeks before their baby turns 9 months old. Click here for information on how eligible working families can apply for 30 hours childcare funding.

If families wish to use their entitlements later than the term after their child turns the relevant age, they can apply closer to the time they wish their child to start. Provided they still meet the eligibility criteria for that entitlement at that time, they will not lose their ability to apply.

To request a copy of the Provider Portal user guide please send your request by email to if@enfield.gov.uk

Find information on the 30 hour entitlement.

To learn how to add 30 hours actuals to the Provider Portal, please watch the helpful Synergy Provider Portal video.

Find out about funding

Find Best Start In Life partner resources

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Early Years providers sign up

Early years pupil premium

The Early years pupil premium (EYPP) funding is designed to support providers and childminders to narrow the attainment gap between young children aged 9 months 2, 3 and 4 year olds, whose families meet the eligibility criteria. The funding is paid directly to the providers which is linked to the entitlement funding claimed hours. The annual value for a 15-hour place over a full year is £655.50, £1.15 per hour per eligible child.

Any provider registered to offer the entitlement funded can claim the EYPP. Parents/carers must provide their consent to their details being verified by the LA on the parental declaration form. EYPP payments are made as part of the normal cycle of early years funding payments. Equipment and resources remain the property of the childcare provider.

EYPP funding can be used for:

additional staff to provide additional support
pool funding with other PVI settings
specific external intervention/support/advice
offering and further developing life experiences (for example, trips and visitors)
to provide further support to the family (for example, resources which can be loaned and used in the home learning environment)
purchasing resources to support learning and development
training/professional development to staff
providing support to children when approaching the time when they transition to school
providing home visits in some circumstances (for example, where a deeper understanding of the child’s home life may help them settle at the childcare setting)

EYPP funding cannot be used for furniture or storage.

Early Years Pupil Premium | EEF

You should make sure that disadvantaged children are at the heart of your EYPP strategy and spending choices. Evidence tells us that high-quality education and care is important for all children, but the benefits for disadvantaged children are greater. When you spend your funding on effective professional development and keep improving the quality of practice, you are addressing a top priority for EYPP spending.

If you spend your EYPP solely on buying toys or resources, you are unlikely to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children. Instead, it is what educators do that makes the biggest difference.

Sometimes, buying specific resources might help you to put an approach into action. However, you should do this alongside providing training and support for educators.

For example, if you select the interactive reading approach to improve children’s early language development, you might use your EYPP to buy:

Effective professional development and ongoing coaching to help educators put the approach into action.
High-quality books to support educators as they deliver the approach.

EYPP should be used to improve the life chances of all of your socio-economically disadvantaged children, by supporting their strengths and meeting needs: from those who are developing well, to those who might need extra help.

You do not need to write detailed and lengthy documents and gather lots of ‘data’ for your EYPP strategy. For example, you can check the impact of your strategy by observing changes to educators' practice ‘on the ground’.

Are educators using the approaches you have discussed to improve the quality of their practice?
Do you observe high-quality interactions throughout the day?
Do you notice those interactions inside and outdoors, whilst children are learning and playing, and also during daily routines?
Are educators consistently providing extra support and teaching for the children who need it?
How are the children responding?

Over time, you might consider using an evidence-informed screening tool for tracking children’s progress as part of your strategy.

Children can thoroughly enjoy ‘one-off’ events such as trips out and special visitors.

However, when you take a balanced approach to spending your EYPP, you are likely to focus on developing the quality of everyday practice. Disadvantaged children will particularly benefit from this approach: it should be a priority in your spending choices.

Two co-childminders purchase a licence for an online language screening tool, and training for themselves and their assistants to use it effectively.

Useful documents and links on EYPP

Special Educational Needs Inclusion Funding (SENIF)

The Early Years Inclusion Support is for children aged between 9 months and 4-years old who are taking up any number of hours of the funding entitlement. Children with a final Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP) are not eligible to access SENIF.

The funding is targeted at children with lower level or emerging SEN. Children with more complex needs and those in receipt of an EHCP continue to be eligible to receive funding via the high needs block.

SENIF applications funded last term can no longer be funded without a review, please ensure you submit a review application by the deadline dates below.

Funding Options

Reminder communication and language needs cannot be funded via SENIF, children with these identified needs will instead access Early Talk Boost Intervention. This is a DfE recommended Speech and Language programme which will be funded by the Family Hub for 2025 - 2026 including training, resources, progress tracking of development and monitoring of the intervention.

SENIF Application and Requirements

An online application form must be submitted by the deadline dates. SENIF funding will be passported for one term, i.e. the term in which the application was submitted, or from the child’s start date within that term.

To download a copy of the Parent Consent Form please use the link below:

SENIF Parent Consent Form

Please see below panel dates and deadlines for application submissions.

Deadline for applications	Panel Date
Wednesday 19th November 2025	Tuesday 25th November 2025
Tuesday 24th February 2026	Tuesday 3rd March 2026
Wednesday 13th May 2026	Tuesday 19th May 2026

Funding bands September – March 2025. The DfE states that the Local authority should not match fund hours for 1-1 support.

Band A (child accessing 15 hours funding entitlement) Up to 7.5 hours per child, per funding block. This is for individual children with low-level special educational needs who require a short-term intervention (3 terms funding only) to support their progress along the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).
Band B (child accessing 30 hours funding entitlement) Up to 15 per child, per funding block. This is for individual children with low-level special educational needs who require a short-term intervention (3 terms funding only) to support their progress along the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)