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Help with childcare costs for children with special educational needs and disabilities

Funded childcare

All 3 and 4 year old children are entitled to 15 hours per week of funded early education. You can get your entitlement at any Ofsted registered early years provider such as preschool, day nursery, childminder or school nursery. 

Working parents of 3 and 4 year olds may also be eligible for a further 15 hours of childcare, 30 hours funded childcare in total.

Funded childcare for 2 year olds

Your child may be eligible for funded childcare for 2 year olds if they:

  • get Disability Living Allowance (DLA) 

  • have a current education, health and care (EHC) plan

  • meet the criteria for Portage (the referral must be made by the Portage Team)

If your child meets any of the criteria listed above, contact your social worker, health visitor, Children and Family Wellbeing Service or Portage worker to complete a referral on your behalf.

Your child may also be eligible if you are getting certain benefits or meet any of the other eligibility criteria.

Tax-Free Childcare for disabled children

You may be able to get extra help with childcare costs through the Tax-Free Childcare scheme. If your child is disabled, you can get more support than other families.

Both you and the government pay into an online account that you use to pay your childcare provider. The government tops up the amount you pay into your account.

The total top up you can get is higher for disabled children. Disabled children can also use Tax-Free Childcare up to age 16 (age 11 for other children).

You can use the extra money to pay for more childcare hours or for your childcare provider to get specialist equipment.

Your child may qualify as disabled if they:

  • get Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

  • get Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

  • are registered blind or severely sight impaired

To find out if you're eligible and how to apply see Tax-Free Childcare on GOV.UK.

Further information

Visit the paying for childcare pages for more information about the different support available.