Education Grant
Working Parent Entitlement for children from 9 months old
From September 2025, if you're an eligible working parent, you can apply for 30 hours of childcare for your child aged 9 to 35 months.
If you apply more than 3 months before the new term, you must reconfirm your details.
You must do this by the end of the month before the term starts. This is to make sure you are still eligible.
At Oaks Nursery, we offer stretched funding, which equates to 12 or 24 hours of funded sessions per week for 48 weeks of the year.
- 3- and 4-year-old funding for either 12 or 24 hours per week in 3-hour blocks over 48 weeks
- 2-year-old Working Entitlement for 24 hours per week in 3-hour blocks over 48 weeks
- 9 months+ Working Entitlement for 24 hours per week in 3-hour blocks over 48 weeks
- Early Learning for 2 Year Olds (EL2) for 12 hours per week in 3-hour blocks over 48 weeks
- 24 hours of funding per week = 8 funded sessions per week
- 12 hours of funding per week = 4 funded sessions per week
When to apply
You must apply and get your eligibility code before the start of term.
The dates to apply by are:
- 31 August to start claiming the entitlement in September
- 31 December to start claiming the entitlement in January
- 31 March to start claiming the entitlement after the Easter break
Apply for the funding
Once you have all the information you need, apply for free childcare if you're working.
Documents
The documents below provide all the information needed to process a claim. Please note, some of theses documents are a mandatory requirement from Kent County Council (KCC).