How to offer the funded hours
How you could offer the funded hours
The baseline offer for funded hours is 38 weeks of the year. However, providers can decide to offer a 'stretch' place instead - this means you would offer less funded hours per week but across more weeks of the year, for example:
- For 15 hours - the yearly total of 570 hours can be stretched over more than 38 weeks of the year
- For eligible 30 hour families - 1140 hours can be stretched over more than 38 weeks of the year
However, a child cannot be claimed as both 'stretch' and 'term time' at the same provision, a claim can only be submitted as one offer. The funded hours must also be offered to the family in the same way you have submitted the claim for the child, for example if the child is claimed as 38 weeks only this is how funding must be offered or deducted for the family.
Example of stretch offer: yearly total for funding should be divided by number of weeks.
For 15 hours offered over 48 weeks, this would be is 570 / 48 (the number of weeks) = 11.87 funded hours.
Providers can choose how they offer early education funding at their setting, as long as they follow the national guidance:
- No more than a maximum of 10 funded hours in a day
- Funded hours must be offered between 6am and 8pm
- Funded hours must be offered as a continuous session, without 'artificial breaks'
- Funded hours can be accessed across a maximum of two sites in any single day
The number of weeks of the year funding can be offered
Providers can choose to offer funded hours as:
- Across 38 weeks of the year - often aligned to school term times, but it does not have to be,
- 'Stretch' offer which is over more than 38 weeks of the year but for less funded hours per week as they are 'stretched' out,
- A mixture of both 38 weeks and stretch - providers can be flexible depending on the requirements of their families, for example one child may have funding over 38 weeks, whereas another child could have funding as stretched
Please note, a single child cannot be claimed as both 38 weeks and stretch, at the same setting.
Additional guidance on flexibility
- Parents can only change from 38 week/term time offer to stretched (or vice versa) at the beginning of a new term
- Providers must supply funded hours in the same manner as they claim it. For example, if funding is claimed for a child as 38 weeks, this is how the funded hours must be given to the family. Similarly, providers who claim funding a stretched must give funding to families as stretched.
Important, providers must keep track of funding used up by a child when changing from stretch to term time funding or when a child has moved from another setting.
There could be occasions when a child could use up their entitlement before the end of the third term in a 12 month period. This can occur when a child has changed from the stretched offer to the 38 week offer or vice versa.
Stretched funding
For example, a 3 year old eligible for 30 hours attending a provider offering funding as stretched over 48 weeks per year:
Total of 1140 hours / 48 weeks = 23 hours, 45 mins of funding per week.
How funded hours are paid
Funding can be supplied and claimed as follows:
- Autumn term (1 September to 31 December) - 38 week offer 14 weeks / Stretch offer 16 weeks
- Spring term (1 January to 31 March) - 38 week offer 11 weeks / Stretch offer 12 weeks
- Summer term (1 April to 31 August) - 38 week offer 13 weeks / Stretch offer 20 weeks
Funding offer in hours
- The standard offer is calculated over 38 weeks can be claimed as:
- Universal/Best Start offer - 15 hours per week
- 30 hours - 30 hours per week - The stretch offer is often calculated over 48 weeks as:
- Universal/Best Start offer - 11.88 hours per week
- 30 hours - 23.75 hours per week
*Please note, families do not have to take up their full entitlement of hours.