Parents of toddlers will be able to apply for 15 hours of free childcare next year

The date that working parents of toddlers can apply for 15 hours of free childcare per week has been set for next year.

Applications for access to the free 15 hours per week will open on January 2nd, 2024 and eligible working parents are urged to apply.

The government says this is the ‘first step’ in its ‘long-term plan to give families a brighter future’. 

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt first announced the plans back in March this year in his budget. The government has now confirmed that working parents of two-year-olds will be able to access the free childcare from April next year.

With thousands of parents expected to apply for the new scheme, ministers advise those eligible to apply between mid-January and the end of February.

Further increases to government funding rates for childcare have also been confirmed in the announcement, meaning in 2024-25 alone the government is investing over £400 million to ‘deliver a significant uplift to local authority hourly rates, to ensure enough places are available wherever they’re needed around the country’.

The Department for Education has confirmed the national average hourly rates will be £11.22 for under twos, £8.28 for two-year-olds, and £5.88 for three and four-year-olds from April – and are said to reflect the increase in National Living Wage from April 2024.

This will be extended to working parents of all children older than nine months from September next year.

From September 2025, working parents of children under five will be entitled to 30 hours of free childcare per week.

A childminder grant – for newcomers to the profession – of £600 for those who register with Ofsted, and £1,200 for those who register with a childminder agency, has also been confirmed.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said ‘parents no longer have to choose between a career and a family’.

About the childcare scheme, she said: “From April next year, eligible working parents of two-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of government-funded childcare a week, making sure parents no longer have to choose between a career and a family, and doubling down on this government’s commitment to getting more people into work and growing the economy. 

“I know the delivery of this transformation is no easy task, which is why I am pushing ahead with increased funding rates across the country and up to £1,200 for new childminders, knocking down barriers to recruiting and retaining the talented staff that provide such wonderful care for our children.”