Nurseries quote prices in wildly different ways — monthly per funding scenario, day rates above a certain number of hours, plain hourly rates, with or without meals and consumables. This calculator normalises all of them into a comparable monthly and annual cost under each government-help scenario: no help at all, 15 funded hours, 30 funded hours, and Tax-Free Childcare on top. It knows the term-after rules (your entitlement starts the term after your child turns 9 months, 2 or 3), the 10-funded-hours-per-day cap, stretched offers, and how many weeks a year your setting opens.
It's part of TaxPilot: send the result to your dashboard and the £100k-trap optimiser will tell you whether pension salary sacrifice would unlock 30 hours + TFC — and exactly what that's worth at your child's actual nursery prices.
Providers bill sessions, but the entitlement is counted in hours: 15 or 30 hours a week over 38 term weeks (570 or 1,140 hours a year, max 10 funded hours a day). Most nurseries convert your funded hours into a deduction on the bill at an hourly rate from their rate card. This calculator does the same conversion and flags when it had to estimate the rate, so you know exactly what to confirm with the nursery.
No. Since September 2025 the working-parent entitlement runs continuously from the term after your child turns 9 months until they start school — 30 hours a week (term-time equivalent) at ages 1, 2, 3 and 4 alike, as long as you reconfirm eligibility every 3 months. Pages describing a '9 months to 2 years' offer refer to the 2024–25 rollout phase, when under-3s only had 15 hours — that ended in September 2025. Separately, 2-year-olds who receive DLA, have an EHC plan or meet other support criteria get 15 hours regardless of their parents' income or work status.
Term-time funding gives the full 15/30 hours a week for 38 weeks; stretching spreads the same annual hours over more weeks (for example ~22 hours a week over 51 weeks) so year-round attenders get a discount in every month. Which is cheaper depends on your attendance pattern — the calculator computes both and tells you which to ask for.
Yes. TFC adds 20% (government pays £2 for every £8 you pay) on what you still pay after funded hours — including provider-billed meals and consumables — up to £2,000 per child per year (£4,000 if disabled). You cannot combine TFC with Universal Credit childcare or childcare vouchers.
If either parent's adjusted net income goes over £100k the household loses both the working-parent 30 hours and Tax-Free Childcare — only the universal 15 hours at ages 3–4 survives. That cliff is often worth £5,000–£12,000 a year. Pension salary sacrifice can bring ANI back under £100k; the TaxPilot dashboard calculates the exact amount and whether it pays off.
Providers may charge for consumables, but the charges must be voluntary, can't be a condition of a funded place, and you can supply your own instead. Since January 2026 providers must issue itemised invoices splitting funded hours, paid hours, food and consumables — ask for one before signing.
Disclaimer: Estimates for England's childcare schemes, for information only — not financial advice. Funding runs term-by-term with application deadlines and 3-monthly reconfirmation; always verify with your provider, childcarechoices.gov.uk and gov.uk/get-childcare.