Childcare costs & funding

Finding childcare near you

Start with your council — they literally keep a list

Every local council in England has a Family Information Service whose whole job is helping parents find childcare — they know which nurseries have baby-room spaces, which childminders are taking on new families, and which settings offer funded places. It is free, and honestly underused. Find yours through gov.uk's “Find free early education and childcare” service (gov.uk/find-free-early-education) — pop in your postcode and it takes you to your council's pages. The wider “Get childcare: step by step” guide on gov.uk walks through the whole process, from finding a place to applying for help with costs.

Elsewhere in the UK the equivalents are just as helpful: in Scotland, your council's early learning and childcare team (Parent Club at parentclub.scot is a friendly way in); in Wales, every council runs a Family Information Service; and in Northern Ireland, Family Support NI lists registered childcare across the country.

Check the register before you fall in love with a setting

Any nursery, pre-school or childminder you use needs to be properly registered — with Ofsted in England (or a registered childminder agency), the Care Inspectorate in Scotland, and Care Inspectorate Wales. Registration is not just a formality: it is what makes a provider eligible for funded hours, Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit childcare support, and it means they are inspected.

Inspection reports are public and genuinely worth ten minutes of your time — search the provider's name on the regulator's website and read the most recent one. Look at what inspectors said about how babies and toddlers are settled and cared for, not just the headline grade. An older “good” report with warm detail can tell you more than a shiny new website.

Get your name down early — especially for a baby room

This is the bit nobody warns you about: baby rooms are small (often just 6–12 places, because the staffing ratio for under-2s is one adult to three babies), and spaces mostly open up only when a baby moves up to the toddler room. In cities — London especially — it is common to join waiting lists 12 months or more before you need the place, which can mean while you are still pregnant. In quieter areas, 3–6 months ahead may be fine. For 2 year olds and up there is usually more movement, particularly each September when the oldest children leave for school.

Work backwards from your return-to-work date, visit a few settings, and get on two or three lists rather than pinning everything on one. Ask each setting how their list actually works — is it first-come-first-served, do siblings get priority, and is there a fee to join? Some charge a registration fee or deposit; if a deposit relates to a funded place it must be refundable, so ask for the terms in writing. And keep in touch — a friendly check-in call every couple of months keeps you on their radar.

Questions worth asking — and being savvy about extra charges

When you visit, trust your eyes and ask the ordinary questions: Who would be my child's key person? How do you settle new babies in, and can we do it gradually? How long have the staff been here? What does a typical day look like, and how much time outdoors? How will you tell me about my child's day? What happens about food, naps and nappies? There are no perfect answers — you are listening for warmth, and for a team that seems to genuinely like the children.

On money: the funded hours themselves must be completely free, but providers in England can charge for extras — meals, nappies, sun cream, trips, and extra hours beyond your entitlement. Those charges must be voluntary, and the setting must let you opt out (bringing a packed lunch or your own nappies) without it affecting your child's place. Since January 2026, invoices in England should be itemised so you can see funded hours (at £0), paid hours, food and consumables as separate lines — if yours is one mysterious lump sum, you are entitled to ask for the breakdown. A “free” place with £30 a week of compulsory-feeling extras is not free, so ask for the full fee schedule in writing before you sign anything.

The small print

• The money figures change every April: minimum-earnings thresholds track the National Minimum Wage, and Universal Credit caps and the NI subsidy cap are uprated each spring — so treat anything you read (including this) as needing a fresh check each spring.
• In England (and broadly in Scotland and Wales too), funded hours start from the term AFTER your child reaches the qualifying age — terms begin 1 September, 1 January and 1 April in England. A baby who turns 9 months in May starts funded hours on 1 September; a child who turns 3 in October starts their universal hours on 1 January.
• The regional costs here are survey averages, not quotes. Every nursery and childminder sets its own fees, and prices within one town can vary as much as between regions — use these numbers to set expectations, then get real quotes locally.
• England's part-time and full-time cost columns are on different bases (see the source label): part-time is the price without the working-parent entitlement, while full-time already has 30 funded hours deducted. Scotland and Wales full-time figures have nothing deducted, which is why they look so much higher.
• These are term-time (38-week) prices. Holiday weeks usually cost more, and if you “stretch” funded hours across the year you get fewer funded hours each week — so budget for the whole year, not just term time.
• Funded hours must be free, but providers can make voluntary charges for meals, nappies and activities — always ask for an itemised fee list so you know the true monthly cost before you commit.

Rates and rules as of July 2026 (2026–27 rates, applying from April 2026).