A headline hourly rate does not tell you what nursery will cost each month. The useful number is a written quote for the days, hours and weeks your child will attend, with support and extra costs shown separately.
Ask for the bill before building the budget
- Ask for the price of the exact attendance pattern you want, including any minimum-session requirements.
- Ask how the provider applies funded hours across the year and how this affects monthly invoices.
- Ask for meals, consumables, activities, additional hours and any deposit or registration charges to be listed separately.
- Keep one-off charges separate from recurring monthly costs.
Those questions are a budgeting checklist, not a claim that every nursery charges every fee. GOV.UK says you may have to pay extra costs, including meals, nappies and activities, and advises asking your provider what you will pay.
Funded hours in England are not a cash allowance
Eligible working parents in England can get 30 funded hours a week for 38 weeks a year for children aged nine months to four years. Eligibility, the child's age and term-start dates matter. Do not subtract 30 hours from every week of a year without checking the provider's schedule.
England's universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds is separate: 570 hours a year, usually taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks. A provider may offer fewer weekly hours over more weeks. Other UK nations have different funded-childcare provision.
Tax-Free Childcare is a separate account top-up
If eligible, for every £8 you pay into a Tax-Free Childcare account, the government adds £2. The usual top-up limit is £500 every three months per child, up to £2,000 a year. Higher limits apply for a disabled child. It is not an uncapped 20% reduction to every bill.
You can use Tax-Free Childcare alongside funded childcare if you qualify for both. Check the provider can receive payments through the scheme. Tax-Free Childcare cannot be received at the same time as certain other support, including Universal Credit, tax credits or childcare vouchers.
Check the £100k limit for each parent
Both England's working-parent funded hours and Tax-Free Childcare have an upper-income eligibility test. If either parent expects adjusted net income over £100,000 for the current tax year, the family will not qualify for these schemes. Other conditions also apply. Salary alone and combined household income are not the test.
See the salary versus adjusted net income guide before assuming a salary below £100,000 settles eligibility.
Build three monthly scenarios
- No support yet: use the quoted bill before any entitlement begins.
- Confirmed support: use the provider's funded-hours quote and only the Tax-Free Childcare top-up you are eligible to receive.
- Support changes: model the bill if eligibility ends or your attendance pattern changes.
Use actual invoice dates and your childcare account balance for cash flow. Keep the provider bill, your own account contribution and the government top-up as separate lines so you do not count the same support twice.
Do not forget reconfirmation
For Free Childcare for Working Parents and Tax-Free Childcare, you must confirm your details are up to date every three months. Keep the date from your childcare account in the budget calendar. A forecast is not a substitute for reconfirming eligibility.
Start with a free childcare chapter
The £100k Baby, by Practical Finance, covers leave, Child Benefit, childcare, pensions and a year-one checklist. This article promotes the book. General information, not personal financial or tax advice. Rules checked on 30 September 2026; check the official sources for your circumstances.