Footprints in the Forest, Forest School, Ysgol Goedwig

Childcare funding in WalesHelp with the cost

Many families in Wales can get help paying for childcare, and in Monmouthshire it now starts at two. Here is what there is, who can get it, and how it will work at Footprints.

Before we openFunded hours can only be used at a setting approved for each scheme: registered with Care Inspectorate Wales and signed up, for most of them. Before places open, this page will say exactly which ones you can use at Footprints, and founding families will hear first.

A red squirrel sits up on a mossy tree stump with a hazelnut in its paws, a small heap of acorns, hazelnuts and a conker beside it, and a woven basket of nuts on the ground.

What could your family get?

A few quick questions, and the answer appears as you go.

When was your child born?
Where do you live?
Who works in your family?

Maternity, paternity, adoption and sick leave all count as working.

Do you get Universal Credit?

Nothing you choose leaves this page.

What you might get

Choose the month and year your child was born, and the answer starts here.

A guide only, worked out from what you chose. The official checkers have the final word: the Welsh Government's checker.

The help there is

Five kinds of help, in plain words. Most families can use more than one.

Using more than one

  • The Childcare Offer and early education go together: at least 10 of the Offer's 30 hours are early education, which you apply for separately.
  • Tax-Free Childcare can pay for hours beyond the funded ones, and for extras such as food and transport.
  • Universal Credit childcare can pay for hours beyond the funded ones too, but never for the funded hours themselves.
  • Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit childcare can't be used together, so choose whichever helps more. For families on Universal Credit, that is almost always Universal Credit.
  • If you joined a childcare voucher scheme at work by 4 October 2018, you may be able to keep it, but not alongside Tax-Free Childcare.

What the funded hours cover

The funded hours themselves are free. Under the Childcare Offer, a setting can charge for food (no more than £11.25 a day, or £7.20 for half a day with lunch), for transport, and for the occasional trip that costs extra. It can't charge for everyday activities, or add a top-up to the funded hourly rate.

Some costs aren't covered by the funding at all, such as a fee to hold a place over the holidays, and any hours beyond the funded ones are paid for privately. When our prices come, they will show funded hours and anything extra separately, so you can see exactly what you would pay.

You might be wondering

Can I use funding at Footprints?
Funded hours can only be used at a setting approved for each scheme, which for most means registered with Care Inspectorate Wales and signed up. Before places open, this page will say exactly which ones you can use at Footprints, and founding families will hear first.
My child is two. Is there any help?
Yes. In Monmouthshire every two year old can have 12.5 hours a week of funded childcare in term time from 2 November 2026, starting the term after they turn two. Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit can help at any age.
When can my child start the Childcare Offer?
From the term after their third birthday. Born between September and December: from January. Between January and March: from April. Between April and August: from September. It runs in term time until they start school full time, in the September after they turn four, and can carry on in the school holidays.
Do both parents have to work?
For Tax-Free Childcare, yes: each parent in the household earning at least £203 a week and under £100,000 a year, or a single parent who does. For the Childcare Offer, a parent studying on a course of at least 10 weeks counts too, and some families on certain benefits can still get it. The national helpline, 03000 628 628, knows the exceptions.
Can I use Tax-Free Childcare and the Childcare Offer together?
Yes. The Offer pays for its funded hours, and Tax-Free Childcare can help with any hours beyond them, and with extras such as food and transport.
We live in England. Does any of this apply?
Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit work the same anywhere in the UK. The Childcare Offer, early education and the two year olds' hours are for families who live in Wales; England has its own free hours, so ask your council how they work across the border.
Will there be anything extra to pay?
The funded hours themselves are free. A setting can charge for food (no more than £11.25 a day), transport and the occasional trip, and some costs, such as a holiday retainer, aren't covered by the funding. When our prices come, they will show anything extra separately.
Is more help coming?
The Welsh Government plans to build up to 20 funded hours a week, for 48 weeks of the year, for every child from nine months to four, over this Senedd term, keeping the 30 hours for eligible three and four year olds. No dates are set for each step yet, and this page will change when they are.

Who to ask

The rules have exceptions, and the people who run the schemes are glad to help. These are the places to start.

Checked on 9 October 2026 against GOV.WALES, GOV.UK and Monmouthshire County Council. The figures change each April, and this page changes with them.

Join the founding familiesFounding families hear first which schemes we accept.