Early education and childcare

Childcare Provider Information

Guidance and information to support childcare providers to claim early education:

Early Education Funding Agreement

Click the link for more information and guidance.

 Funding Agreement

Early Education Claim Period Documentation

Parent/Carer Documentation

Funding Entitlement Booklet - This document must be issued to parents and carers with Part 1 of the parent/carer claim form.  It provides information to families about the funding entitlements and how they can claim.

Parent/carer booklet (PDF, 388 KB)

Funding Entitlement Parent / Carer Claim Form - The claim form is mandatory.  Prior to issuing this form, please refer to the provider guidance below.

The form is split into 3 parts -

• Part 1 - provides guidance to complete Part 2 and 3 and QR codes to the booklet, tax-free childcare and universal credit childcare costs
• Part 2 - must be completed every time a new entitlement is claimed or when their details (e.g. address) change
• Part 3a Cycle of Eligibility Autumn Start - must be completed every time a new entitlement is claimed or when their funding details change
• Part 3b Cycle of Eligibility Spring Start - must be completed every time a new entitlement is claimed or when their funding details change
• Part 3c Cycle of Eligibility Summer Start - must be completed every time a new entitlement is claimed or when their funding details change

Part 1 - Parent or Carer Funding Claim Form (PDF, 299 KB)

PDF Template -

Part 2 - Parent / Carer Funding Claim Form (PDF, 220 KB)

Part 3a - Parent / Carer Funding Claim Form - Autumn Start (PDF, 232 KB)

Part 3b - Parent / Carer Funding Claim Form - Spring Start (PDF, 232 KB)

Part 3c - Parent / Carer Funding Claim Form - Summer Start (PDF, 232 KB)

Word Template -

Part 2 - Parent or Carer Funding Claim Form (Word doc, 242 KB)

Part 3a - Parent / Carer Funding Claim Form - Autumn Start (Word doc, 214 KB)

Part 3b - Parent / Carer Funding Claim Form - Spring Start (Word doc, 213 KB)

Part 3c - Parent / Carer Funding Claim Form - Summer Start (Word doc, 213 KB)

Ready Steady Go for Funded Childcare - These help families to navigate the pathway to the correct entitlement for the age of their child and eligibility.

Ready Steady Go - SPRING VERSION (PDF, 158 KB)

Ready Steady Go - SUMMER VERSION (PDF, 157 KB)

Ready Steady Go - AUTUMN VERSION (PDF, 158 KB)

Provider Documentation

Parent / Claim Form Guidance (including mail merge option and the templates) (PDF, 786 KB)

Funding Weeks Calculator (Excel doc, 30 KB)

Cycle of Eligibility Chart (PDF, 131 KB)

Calculator Templates

These calculators are shared to help providers calculate the funded hours to be claimed by families.

Calculate estimates and actuals SUMMER (Excel doc, 103 KB)

Calculate estimates and actuals AUTUMN (Excel doc, 103 KB)

Calculate annual funding hours Part 3a Autumn TT (Excel doc, 38 KB)

Calculate annual funding hours Part 3a Autumn AYR (Excel doc, 35 KB)

Calculate annual funding hours Part 3b Spring TT (Excel doc, 38 KB)

Calculate annual funding hours Part 3b Spring AYR (Excel doc, 35 KB)

Calculate annual funding hours Part 3c Summer TT (Excel doc, 37 KB)

Calculate annual funding hours Part 3c Summer AYR (Excel doc, 34 KB)

Early Education Funding Rates and Payments

Click the link for more information.

Hourly rates

Funding payment dates

Early Years National Funding Formula (EYNSFF)

Annual Budget Guidance

Annual Budget Statement (Excel doc, 29 KB)

Estimate your Deprivation Supplement (Excel doc, 145 KB)

Provider Payment Details

Provider bank and remittance details form (Word doc, 47 KB)

Other Guidance

Financial Good Practice (PDF, 97 KB) for Early Years Providers

Completing your  

Early Years Procedures

Complaints (funding entitlement)

Appeals (withdrawal or suspension of funding or a request to repay)

Data Protection

Guidance - Data Protection and Password Management (PDF, 93 KB)

Children and young people privacy notices

Receiving and Sending Secure Emails  (PDF, 184 KB)

Other Early Years Funding

• Early Years Funding
• SEND Funding

If you do not find what you are looking for please contact the Early Years Finance team by email at [email protected]

Data Collection

In line with the statutory requirements and the Terms and Conditions of the Funding Agreement data will be collect termly. All providers that offer early education must complete Part 1 of the requirements if applicable and all of Part 2.

Guidance is available to support this collection.

Intro

• Requirement and deadlines

Part 1

• Funding Actuals
• My Details

Part 2

• Data Collection Form
• Staff Record Check and Update
• Sufficiency Data Check and Update

Early Education Funding Claims

Summer 2026

Autumn 2026

Spring 2027

* these relate to final amendments to existing children, adding new children and end dating those that have left

Failure to submit your claim via the Provider Portal by the specified date may mean your payment is delayed and /or the hours adjusted.

Key points to remember:

• Funding can be adjusted at any point throughout the claim period
• Providers should check the portal following the balancing payment for confirmation of funding paid, as adjustments occur where the national criteria is not met
• Funding should not be claimed where a funding form has not been completed and signed by the parent/carer 

Need help?

Should you require any further assistance please contact:
Early Years Finance Team
Tel: 01603 222300
Email: [email protected]

SEN Funding Applications

NB: Applications received after the initial deadline will be processed as an additional application.

Queries and applications should be submitted to [email protected]

Early Years and Childcare Panel

Panel will convene at least half termly to review Expressions of Interest and Applications.

Queries and documentation should be submitted to [email protected]

The following rates will be paid to all providers who have signed the Local Agreement to offer the Early Education entitlement to families in Norfolk from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.

Early Education

under 2's 

Base Rate: £10.47 per hour

2-year olds

Base Rate: £7.72 per hour

3 and 4-year olds

Base Rate: £5.78 per hour

Deprivation Supplement

The supplement will be calculated on the total number of funded hours for all children whose home address postcode is in a 0-20% most deprived area determined by the index of deprivation (IDACI)*

Rate: £0.21 per hour

* The index of deprivation - IDACI (Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index) is calculated by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. It measures the proportion of children under the age of 16 that live-in low-income households.

Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP)

This is extra funding paid to childcare providers for all eligible children that meet certain criteria.  Once eligible, the funding will not cease whilst the child is in receipt of early education. 

Rate: £1.15 per hour (national rate)

Please see the Early years pupil premium page for more information.

Disability Access Fund (DAF)

This is extra funding available to childcare providers for children in receipt of of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).  Families must nominate the provider (via the parent/carer claim form) to receive the funding and provide evidence that DLA is received by their child.

Rate: £975.00 annually (national rate)

Please see the Disability Access Fund page for more information

SEN Funding

The total fund is £3,574,660.

This funding is available to all providers to claim for children in receipt of early education with special educational needs (SEN).  Providers are encouraged to apply where SEN has been identified, and families have consented for the provider to claim.  The level of need may range from low and emerging to more complex /medical need.  It is not necessary to have a formal diagnosis or EHCP to access this funding.

Awards are calculated using the number of early education (EE) hours funded by the local authority multiplied by the rate for the agreed outcome.  The award will be automatically adjusted if the claim for early education hours increases or decreases or an EHCP is issued and an award of low and emerging was determined.

To avoid an under or overspend of the fund, the low and emerging rates may be subject to change.

If you are concerned about the level of additional funding received following the panel outcome, please email [email protected] with your reasons so that your application can be checked.

Need help?

Should you require any further assistance please contact:

Early Years Finance Team

Tel: 01603 222300

Email: [email protected]

Payments could include any of the following - 

• Early Education Claims
• SEND Funding Panel Awards
• Early Years Panel Awards
• Training Contributions
• Payments agreed by Early Years Achievement Service
• Deductions due to non-payment of invoices (eg. Training and Early Education)

Where possible, any payments due will be processed in time to meet the next available date.

Remittance

A remittance is issued for all payments. The credit to your bank account is dependent on your bank; it may take up to 4 working days before the funds are available following receipt of a remittance document.

New and Amendments to bank or contact details

Please ensure a Provider Update Form (Word doc, 47 KB) is completed to confirm new/amendments to bank and/or contact details.

Early Education Funding Claims

Payments for funding claims will be paid monthly, unless the Local Authority agrees that a provider may opt out. The payment will initial be a percentage of the submitted estimate and then switch to Actuals during the claim period.

The final payment for the claim period will be a balance based on actual hours funded.

If estimates are not submitted on or before the deadline, monthly payments will be £0.00 until either an estimate is confirmed via email or the actual balance is paid at the end of the claim period.

Payments in Advance 

To support cash flow issues, it is possible to make advance payments if early education funding is owing to a provider. It is not possible to provide an advance funding payment for a claim period which has not yet commenced.

Please email the Early Years Finance team for further guidance and advice at [email protected].

Payments

We aim to process payments so that a provider should receive them no later than 7th of each month or the next working day.  Failure to meet any funding deadlines will mean your payment will be delayed until the next scheduled date or until sufficient data has been received and processed.

IMPORTANT: Payments are subject to change when matters beyond our reasonable control occur. (eg. bank holidays, system/technical issues)

Early education funding will be paid monthly as a percentage of the submitted Estimates or Actuals as follows -

Summer

Autumn

Spring

* option to opt out and receive 80% and balance

Need help?

Should you require any further assistance please contact: Early Years Finance Team

Tel: 01603 222300

Email: [email protected]

Early Years Funding Rates

The rates for April 2026 onwards have been agreed.

In line with our consultation feedback and the views of the Early Years Consultative Group and Schools Forum, we will:

• Not hold any contingency to maximise funding to providers
• Reduce the percentage of centrally retained funding to 3% in line with DfE requirements
• Continue to allocate 3% for an SEN Inclusion Fund
• Maintain the same rates for 2-year-olds regardless of the type of entitlement (i.e. working families or early learning for 2-year-olds)

Budget

The Local Authority is required by legislation to issue all providers with an indicative budget at the beginning of the financial year.

The budget should broadly reflect the anticipated total number of hours that will be claimed. It is also a requirement to adjust budgets to reflect actuals within the financial year.

In Norfolk, we have provided a calculator for providers to determine their indicative budget for Early Education funding.

Indicative budget calculator (Excel doc, 29 KB).