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Your 2-year-old can get funded early education or childcare if you live in England and get one of the following benefits:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Universal Credit, and your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax, not including benefit payments
• tax credits, and your household income is £16,190 a year or less before tax
• the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• the Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)

2-year-olds can also get free childcare if they:

• are looked after by a local authority
• have a statement of special education needs (SEN) or an education, health and care (EHC) plan
• get Disability Living Allowance
• have left care under an adoption order, special guardianship order or a child arrangements order

You may have to pay for extra costs like meals, nappies or trips.

If you’re a non-EEA citizen who cannot claim benefits

Your 2-year-old may get free childcare if you are getting support under the Immigration and Asylum Act and have either:

• claimed asylum in the UK and are waiting for a decision (known as ‘part 6’)
• been refused asylum in the UK (known as ‘section 4’)

A 2-year-old you care for may also get free childcare if your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax, and you have any of the following:

• leave to remain with ‘no recourse to public funds’ on family or private life grounds
• support from your local council because you have ‘a child in need’, for example they have a disability or a child protection plan
• the right to live in the UK because you’re the main carer of a British citizen (known as a ‘Zambrano Carer’)

If you're eligible, you can start claiming funded early education after your child turns two.

Passport for 2's 

The 'Passport for 2's' scheme has been introduced to make it easier for those who are entitled to access up to 15 hours of funded early education for their 2 year old. 

How it works?

We receive a list of families who are eligible to receive 15 hours of funded early education from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). We then write out to everyone on this list notifying that they are entitled to a 'Passport for 2's'.

You will receive a little passport and letter which can then simply be handed in to a provider of your choice and swapped for up to 15 hours funded early education. You will also need to provide a copy of your child's birth certificate. *Following the national lockdown announcement, please ring your chosen childcare provider first to secure your funded place. They will then confirm how they wish to receive your passport and confirm a start date for your child.

Not everyone with a two year old who is entitled to up to 15 hours funded early education is included on the list we receive from the DWP! 

But that doesn’t mean that you are not eligible, it may just mean that you are not currently known to the DWP! This could be because your circumstances have recently changed or your information needs to be updated and therefore has not been included on the 'Passport' list we have received from them.

If this is the case, you may need to fill in an application online. You can find out more here

Here's all the information you need about Passport for 2's

Here is a list of providers, registered to provide funded early education for 2-year-olds. You can contact them directly to express your interest if you are eligible. 

*Following the national lockdown announcement, please ring your chosen childcare provider first to secure your funded place. They will then confirm how they wish to receive your passport and confirm a start date for your child.

Download the directory. 

The government has developed a number of new ways to help parents with their childcare costs for children of all ages.

Visit Childcare Choices to find out more.

If you have any queries, please contact our Funded Early Education Entitlement team on the following numbers:

• Enquiries about entitlement for 2-year-olds – 01744 676541
• All other enquiries – 01744 676542 or 676557

How can we make this information easier to understand? Do you have any other feedback about this page? We'd welcome your thoughts - email us on earlyyearsfeee@sthelens.gov.uk.