Is free or funded childcare available in Northern Ireland?

Introduction

Government funding of childcare in Northern Ireland is different to the rest of the UK, and schemes such as ‘30 hours free childcare’, an extension to which was announced in the Spring Budget, are not available. While there is no scheme for free childcare in Northern Ireland, there is other support currently available for families:

• Working parents can benefit from UK wide financial support schemes, that pay some of their registered childcare costs, making them more affordable including:
  • Tax Credits
  • Universal Credit
  • Childcare Vouchers
  • Tax-Free Childcare.
• All parents of three and four year olds in Northern Ireland can apply for at least 12.5 hours per week of funded pre-school education (during term-time for the year immediately before starting primary school). Note – in September 2022, then Education Minister Michelle McIlveen announced a new proposal to offer every child in the pre-school year a minimum of 22.5 hours of pre-school education per week. Funding has been allocated to develop a costed delivery plan and timetable for this.

Employers For Childcare’s Family Benefits Advice Service regularly hears from parents in Northern Ireland who want to know if they can benefit from 30 hours free childcare, because they are aware of the availability of the scheme elsewhere in the UK and particularly in light of the Chancellor’s announcement extending this to all children in England from 9 months to 4 years old.  30 hours free childcare is not available in Northern Ireland.

30 hours free childcare is available in England, with similar schemes in Scotland and Wales, each with slightly different rules about who can benefit. Details about how these schemes work – and the upcoming changes to the scheme in England – are set out below.

England

In order to support working parents in England the government is planning to offer more free childcare to working families. This will widen the age range for entitlement and increase the number of free childcare hours for children of working parents.

The devolved administrations will receive additional funding from HM Treasury as a result of these decisions, through the Barnett Formula, however it is for the Ministers in each jurisdiction to decide how this money will be spent. In Northern Ireland, as there is no Executive in place, the decision cannot be made to ringfence this funding to invest in childcare.

Free childcare in England at a glance:

• Two year olds whose parents receive qualifying benefits are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare or early education for 38 weeks. This will be extended to all working parents of two year olds from April 2024, and then further extended in September 2024 for all working parents of children from 9 months to 2 years.
• All three and four year olds are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare or early education for 38 weeks.
• Three and four year olds whose parents are working, and who are eligible, are entitled to an additional 15 hours of free childcare or early education – this is a total of 30 hours per week for children whose parents are working. This will be extended from September 2025 so all eligible working parents of children aged 9 months up to 3 years will be able to access 30 hours free childcare.

In England, families are entitled to 30 hours per week of free childcare or early education for each eligible child, over at least 38 weeks per year. This equates to 1,140 hours per year. Parents may be able to stretch their free hours outside of term time, taking fewer hours per week but over more weeks of the year.

These free childcare places are offered by childminders, day nurseries, pre-schools or playgroups, schools and children’s centres.

Currently, families in England who are in receipt of qualifying benefits (for example income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance or Universal Credit) may be entitled to receive 15 hours of free childcare or early education for their two year old children.

Parents need to set up a Government Gateway account to apply for 30 hours free childcare, which they do via the Childcare Choices website. You can find out more, and apply at: www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

Scotland

Free childcare in Scotland at a glance:

• Two year olds whose parents receive qualifying benefits and are eligible are entitled to up to 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare a year, around 30 hours a week in term time.
• All three and four year olds are entitled to up to 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare a year, around 30 hours a week in term time.

In Scotland, all three and four year olds, and two year olds whose parents meet the qualifying criteria (for example, receive certain benefits) are entitled to 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare a year. This works out at about 30 hours a week in term time.

Parents may be able to stretch their free childcare hours outside of term time, taking fewer hours per week but over more weeks. Places may be offered by childminders, day nurseries, pre-schools or playgroups, schools and children’s centres.

You can find out more, including how to apply at: www.mygov.scot/childcare-costs-help/funded-early-learning-and-childcare

Wales

Free childcare in Wales at a glance:

• Eligible two and three year olds, who live in a disadvantaged area, are entitled to 12½ hours of free childcare a week, for 39 weeks a year
• Three and four year olds, whose parents are working, and are eligible, are entitled to up to 30 hours per week of early education and childcare, for up to 48 weeks a year.

In Wales, three and four year olds, whose parents are working, and meet the eligibility criteria, are entitled to up to 30 hours per week of early education and childcare, for up to 48 weeks a year. The 48 weeks is made up of 39 weeks of combined education and childcare during school term-time, and nine weeks of ‘holiday’ provision outside of school terms.

During term time, the 30 hours offer is broken down into approximately 10 hours per week of early education, and a maximum of 20 hours per week of childcare. Parents are not required to access the early education entitlement in order to access the childcare element of the offer.

The early education offer is mainly provided by schools. Childcare places may be offered by childminders, day nurseries, pre-schools or playgroups, schools and children’s centres.

Eligible two year olds can also access part-time childcare in disadvantaged areas of Wales through the Flying Start programme. This provides 2½ hours per day of childcare, across five days a week, for 39 weeks from the term following their second birthday to the term in which they celebrate their third birthday.

You can out more, including how to apply at: gov.wales/childcare-3-and-4-year-olds and gov.wales/get-help-flying-start

What is the situation in Northern Ireland?

At a glance:

• There is no free childcare scheme in Northern Ireland however there is funded pre-school education
• Currently all three and four year olds are entitled to a funded pre-school place, in their immediate pre-school year, of at least 12½ hours per week, during term time. Some settings can offer up to 22½ hours per week. In September 2022, the Education Minister announced a proposal to standardise places to 22½ hours per week for all three and four years olds.
• If places in a pre-school setting are not filled by three and four year olds, they may be made available for some children in their penultimate pre-school year (when the child has turned two).

In Northern Ireland, parents of all three to four year-olds can apply to receive at least 12.5 hours per week of funded pre-school education in their immediate pre-school year. A pre-school place is normally provided across five sessions per week, each lasting 2½ hours per day (part time) or, in some cases, 4½ hours per day (full time), during the school year. Places are provided by nursery schools, primary schools with nursery units and some voluntary and private sector providers. Voluntary and private sector providers can only offer part time sessions. The places cannot be provided by childminders.

These pre-school places are provided by the Department of Education which states that they are not to be regarded as childcare. Their primary purpose is to provide quality early years education to encourage children’s social, physical and mental development, while helping to prepare them for school.

The rigidity of this provision, and the limited hours provided, mean that it does not give the same flexibility to parents compared to similar schemes elsewhere in the UK. Many parents will require childcare to wrap around the funded pre-school place, and will have to pay for drop off and collection between the childcare provider and the pre-school. Some parents can also struggle to secure a place at the pre-school that is most convenient to them, due to the demand on places and the eligibility criteria that is applied.

You can find out more about the pre-school education programme in Northern Ireland here: www.eani.org.uk/parents/admissions/pre-school-admissions-guide

Are there any plans to extend the provision of free or funded childcare to Northern Ireland?

The Department of Education is in the process of developing a new integrated Early Learning and Childcare Strategy for Northern Ireland. It is critical that the strategy invests significant funding in ensuring:

• All parents can afford the childcare of their choice without it costing a significant proportion of their income
• All childcare providers can deliver quality, accessible childcare sustainably while investing in their staff and provision.

In September 2022, Education Minister Michele McIlveen announced a new proposal to offer every child in their pre-school year a minimum of 22.5 hours of pre-school education per week. This is in line with the commitments set out in the New Decade, New Approach agreement, and as recommended by the Expert Panel on Educational Underachievement in Northern Ireland.

Initially, this will involve a pilot programme to create new full-time statutory nursery provision in certain areas. This will inform plans for the standardisation of all pre-school education sessions, including a phased lifting of the current restriction on the creation of new full-time provision. At the same time, officials will look at how to support existing part-time pre-school provision to convert to full-time provision.

You can read more about the proposal here.

Through our work with families, we know that many parents want to see the introduction of a ‘free’ childcare offer, similar to that which is available in other parts of the UK. We understand the attraction of ‘free childcare’ for parents who are struggling to afford childcare, but it is essential that we see a scheme developed that is unique to Northern Ireland, while taking on some of the best parts of what is available elsewhere in the UK and in other countries.

For example, there is clear evidence that funding provided by the Government for the delivery of free childcare hours in England does not cover the full costs for providers in offering the scheme. As a result, there can be a shortfall in funding that providers must cover in order to meet their costs and remain sustainable. This can result in increased fees for hours outside of the ‘free’ entitlement, for younger and older children, and for extras such as lunches and outings. With the extension of the 30 hours free childcare scheme in England, there are many concerns from those across the childcare sector about how this will be appropriately funded, and how the sector will have the capacity to deliver these free childcare places.

We also know that, for many families, childcare can be most expensive when their children are younger than age three or four, and when parents – particularly mothers – are seeking to return to work from a period of parental leave. This is also a critical time for early child development. This is why we would like to see the Executive in Northern Ireland deliver better support with childcare to all parents, not just those with pre-school age childcare, and this must also support the sustainability of childcare providers enabling them to invest in delivering quality provision and in their workforce.

Employers For Childcare is committed to continuing to work with the Department of Education to inform the development of a new Childcare Strategy. To achieve progress, we must have a functioning Executive in place as a matter of urgency, that is ready to deliver the significant and much-needed investment our childcare sector, and the parents who rely on it, so urgently need. With the recent Budget announcements of significant investment in childcare in England, Northern Ireland is falling further and further behind other parts of the UK and Ireland in terms of the support provided with childcare.

Find out what financial support your family can benefit from

While there is no free childcare in Northern Ireland, most working parents are entitled to financial support with registered childcare costs. With a number of different schemes available, it can be complex working out what financial help your family is entitled to. Our advisors can help you work out what the best childcare support is for you.

Simply call our Family Benefits Advice Service on 028 9267 8200 for free, confidential and impartial advice from one of our trained advisors. Last year, where we provided a ‘better off’ calculation for a family they were, on average, almost £5,000 better off as a result.