Early Education Funding (EEF) for 9-23 months, 2, 3 and 4-year-olds.

This page contains a brief overview of funding entitlements for providers. For further information, please read our guidance notes pages. 

• Information for parents

Please note that all funding claims will need to be completed electronically through our Establishment Portal. If you are a provider who would like to start offering funded places and have not yet signed up, visit our Joining the early education funding scheme page.

Types of funding: 

15 hours early learning for families in England receiving some additional forms of support

• Some 2-year-olds can take up this funding for 570 hours per year the term after their 2nd birthday (refer to chart below for the earliest start dates).

• For more information on eligibility and how parents can apply, please visit our parents' Early Education Funding page.
• Some parents will receive a letter through the post, an email or a text informing them they may be eligible for ‘early learning for families in England receiving some additional forms of support’ and encouraging them to apply online.
• The sooner a family applies the better, as it will be more likely the family are still eligible. We advise to apply even if a family do not want to use the funding straight away. Once an application is granted as eligible, the child will remain eligible until the term after they turn three, when they will move onto 15 hours per week / 570 hours per year of universal funding.
• After a family apply, they will receive a code reference number that will be in the following format- XX-XXXX-XXXX.
• Parents should take the letter, to a provider who is rated Good or above by Ofsted and the provider can complete a code check via the Establishment Portal. A funded place can then be offered.
• Oxfordshire County Council's Family Information Service (FIS) is available for parents and professionals seeking support with finding childcare. Depending on the nature of the request, FIS will signpost the parent or professional to the list of providers on the FIS online directory or contact providers on behalf of the parent/carer to see if places are available.
• 2-year-olds that meet the criteria for Early Years Pupil Premium will receive the additional EYPP rate. Please note providers must run an eligibility check via the Establishment Portal to claim this.
• The hourly funding rate from April 2025 is £8.05
• This funding will stop the term after the child’s 3rd birthday. All 3-year-olds are then entitled to 570 hours per year of funding. This is known as universal funding and is explained below.  
• If a family who have already been claiming this funding would like to receive the extended 570 hours of funding per year as a 3&4-year-old, then providers should encourage the family to apply for working parent entitlement the term before they turn three. Any difference in invoicing costs should be communicated to the parent before the start of their 3&4-year-old funding. 

If the parent is not entitled to these criteria, then please see the criteria set out below as an alternative

3 and 4-year-old funding

Universal entitlement 

• All 3 and 4-year-olds in Oxfordshire can take up a funded place for universal entitlement the term after their 3rd birthday (refer to chart below).  

• Universal entitlement does not require a code.
• This funding can be claimed up until the child meets compulsory school age (the term after their 5th birthday). If a child starts in a reception class in school, they will not then be able to claim this funding.
• The hourly funding rate from April 2025 is £5.53

Working Parent Entitlement for 9-23 months, 2-year-olds and 3& 4-year olds 

Parents can receive: 

• Up to 15 hours a week for children aged 9 months – 2-year-olds

• Up to 30 hours a week for children aged 3 to 4 years old. 

Parents must apply for a code by the end of the month before a new term starts. For example, if the term starts on 1 September you must apply by 31 August. 

• Parents must meet the eligibility criteria found on the Working Parent entitlement page.
• Parents apply for this entitlement through Childcare Choices.
• Parents need to have applied and received their 11-digit code from HMRC before the entitlement date i.e. by 31 August 31 December and 31 March.  Parents are advised to apply in plenty of time – this is detailed in the chart above.
• Codes must be validated on the Establishment Portal by providers to confirm the correct start date. This must be completed before offering a working parent funded place to a family.  If a code cannot be validated and confirmed as eligible then you could offer a provisional place, letting the parents know that if the code is not eligible, they will have to pay for their hours.
• Parents must reconfirm their code is eligible via HMRC every 3 months through their government gateway account.
• A child cannot claim funded hours for the first time nor start a funded place at a new provider if they are in their grace period. Providers are responsible for checking these dates.
• The hourly funding rate for ages 9-23months from April 2025 is £11.05
• The hourly funding rate for ages 2 from April 2025 is £8.05

Working Parent entitlement for 3 and 4-year-olds

• Some 3 and 4-year-old children of working parents may be eligible for an additional 570 hours (these are additional to the universal hours and can total up to 30 hours per week). Information and eligibility criteria can be found at Childcare Choices
• The rate of funding and the rule of this funding is the same as working parent entitlement above.
• The hourly funding rate for age 3+ (term after 3rd birthday) from April 2025 is £5.53

Working parent entitlement for foster carers

• Foster carers can claim funded childcare if they are working as long as:
• They are in paid work outside of their fostering role, and the social worker agrees the funding to be in line with the child’s care plan
• Foster carers cannot use the online application to assess for funded childcare. Foster carers should speak to their social worker for further information on how to apply.
• The social worker will ask the foster carers to fill out this application form (docx format, 122 KB)
• Once the application form has been completed and the social worker has confirmed eligibility, they will forward the form onto The Early Education Funding Team to create an 11-digit code beginning with 400.
• Foster carers must fill out their application and receive their code the term before the child turns 9 months, 2 or 3 to use the funding for the following term.
• Foster carers must also reconfirm with their social worker every 3 months.
• A child cannot claim funded hours for the first time nor start a funded place at a new provider if they are in their grace period. Providers are responsible for checking these dates. 

Early years Pupil Premium (EYPP) and deprivation supplement 

• The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) gives extra funding to support eligible 9-23months, 2 and 3 and 4-year-olds up to 15 hours per week (the EYPP cannot be applied to the extended entitlement hours for 3 & 4-year-olds.
• From April 2025 providers are paid a rate of £1.47 per hour. This is broken up as £1 per hour for EYPP and 47p per hour as a deprivation supplement.
• The deprivation is also applied to the extended 15 hours (if age 3 and 4 and eligible) at the rate of 47p per hour.
• For further information and how to apply and criteria, see Early Years Pupil Premium funding.

Disability Access Funding (DAF)

DAF is available to children:

• Currently in receipt of Disability Living Allowance
• receiving funded early education as a 9-23 month, 2 or 3 & 4-year-old

To be eligible for DAF, the child must be named on their current DLA award letter (children whose siblings attract DLA but don’t themselves would not be eligible). 

From April 2025 the DAF funding is a non-transferable lump sum payment of £938 per year and the parent must nominate which provider will receive the funding. For example, if you claim for DAF in spring term 2024 then the earliest next claim will not be until spring term 2025, providing that child still claims early education funding. 

This funding can only be used at one provider and cannot be shared. The parents should nominate their chosen provider to receive DAF if they share their funded hours between more than one provider. 

Please note that four-year-olds in primary school reception classes are not eligible for DAF funding.

SEN inclusion funding

Inclusion funding is intended for funded 2, 3, and 4-year-olds with low-level or emerging special educational needs. This funding is a limited amount, totalling £38.50 per week, term time, for specific children. The aim of the funding is to enable schools and settings to provide early interventions that will enhance the child’s progress. It can be claimed by Oxfordshire providers in receipt of Early Education Funding.

Oxfordshire is currently reviewing funding for 9-23-month-olds; however, this is not currently available for this age group.

If the funding is being spent effectively and making a difference, it can be used flexibly, e.g., to purchase additional resources, pay for staff training, or pay for additional adult support.

Before claiming ‘Inclusion Funding’ for each individual child, the school or setting must have taken the following steps:

• Have identified that the child has low level and/or emerging special educational needs by using Oxfordshire Guidance for Special Educational Needs (SEN) Support to complete the initial screening tool and relevant SEND descriptors.
• Have discussed the child’s strengths and needs with the parents and explained how ‘Inclusion Funding’ will be used to support their child’s progress.
• Have written and shared an individual support plan or pupil profile with parents and relevant professionals (if involved) which clearly outlines the next steps/outcomes you are aiming to support the child to achieve. (See example of a completed individual support plan)
• Have a clear process in place for monitoring the child’s progress.
• Ensure the individual support plan or pupil profile is reviewed at least 3 times a year with parents and other relevant professionals.
• Have a record, kept in the child’s file that records what the funding has been spent on and the impact for the child in terms of their well-being, learning and/or development. Inclusion funding form (docx format, 35Kb)
• For LA auditing purposes, provide evidence that the above steps have been followed.

Coming soon 

• From September 2025, working parents of children under the age of 5 will be entitled to 30 hours of childcare per week. Working parent criteria must be met. 

Like the existing offer, depending on the provider, these hours can be used over 38 weeks of the year (during school term time), or up to 52 weeks for a reduced number of hours per week. Otherwise known as stretched funding