Achieving Two Year Olds (A2YO) Funding

• Local Offer

If you live in England and your family meet the criteria for Free School Meals or you receive working tax credit with an income of no more that £16,190 or you are in receipt of universal credit and have a gross annual household earning of no more than £15,400...

You could be entitled to up to 15 hours a week of Funded early learning childcare at a nursery, childminder or playgroup in England. More information regarding Achieving 2 year old funding can be found HERE

To check if you are entitled you can register with Gloucestershire County Council via the Citizen portal within the contact section of this page.  Enter your details and if you are entitled you will be given a reference number and email.  You will need your National Insurance Number to check eligibility.

Criteria to access the funding is stated below:

• 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 in England and attend a setting in England
• an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or
• has a My Plan/My Plan+ with identified SEN needs including but not exhaustive of children on the Social Communication Pathway (SCOM) – copy of the child’s My Plan/My Plan+ is needed.
• get Disability Living Allowance
• have left care under an adoption order, special guardianship order or a child arrangements order and attend a setting in England

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

If family are a non-EEA citizen who cannot claim benefits

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

• leave to remain with ‘no recourse to public funds’ on family or private life grounds
• support from the local council because they 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’)

In September 2020 The Government permanently extended eligibility for the free early education entitlement for the most disadvantaged two-year-old children whose paren(s) meet both of the following conditions

• That they are excluded from claiming public funds as a consequence of their immigration status, or their lack of immigration status; and
• They are in receipt of support under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.

In Gloucestershire we do have facilities to support some families who do not meet the National criteria and in these circumstances a referral will need to be completed and returned to the Nursery Funding team.  The referral form must be completed by a practitioner working with the family and where appropriate evidence to support the referral should be submitted. 

Information for Practitioners

If you are considering referring a family who meet any of the above criteria, you do not need to complete a referral form but some supporting evidence may be required.  Applications can be made online at the Citizen Portal link.

If you need to make a referral, please sign in to access the referral form within the practitioner section of this record.

Further information for Practitioner can be found NEF">HERE