Coventry Schools' Early Education Funding Entitlement - Print version

Coventry schools' handbook for the delivery of Early Education Entitlement Funding

This guidance has been created by Coventry Early Years Team to support schools in meeting the terms and conditions of Early Education Entitlement Funding delivery, as set out in the following Government and Local Authority documentation:

• Early education and childcare: Statutory guidance for local authorities 2018
• Early years entitlements: operational guidance: For local authorities and providers June 2018
• Coventry Provider Funding Agreement (updated annually)
• Memorandum of Understanding for Maintained, Voluntary Aided / ControlledSchools

*The term parent is used throughout this guidance to refer to the person who has parental responsibility for a child.
** This document assumes that schools are delivering Early Education Entitlements over no more than 38 weeks per year.

Admissions policy

All parents should have the same rights to access a funded entitlement place regardless of whether they choose to pay for additional hours, activities, meals, snacks and consumables. Parents should not have to reserve a place each term.
Schools should publish admissions information, which is clear and can be easily understood by parents. This is to support parents to make an informed decision about where they wish to use their child’s funded entitlement.
The admissions information should clearly identify which hours/sessions can be taken as funded provision.

Please see examples of funding delivery models.

Download and print a copy of the handbook [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/39087/coventry-schools-handbook-for-the-delivery-of-early-education-entitlement-funding]

Fee information checklist

Fee information checklist for schools delivering early education entitlement funding

Does the school's fee information:

• Include the school's name, address, telephone, and email contact details?
• State opening hours?
• Make clear to parents that funded entitlement hours are completely free of charge during specified hours/sessions/days?
• Include details of the specific models of delivery offered for 15 or 30 hours,for 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds, including the number of standalone places,times, days and sessions.
• Tell parents about the maximum number of funded weeks/hours in each term and academic year, and which weeks/dates are covered in each funding period?
• Highlight to parents that all children in receipt of 3- and 4-year-old funding must have taken up a place before the termly census/headcount date?
• Make clear to parents, the policy the school will follow, where parents choose to relocate their child to a new provision/school, following the school’s submission of termly census/headcount data to Coventry City Council.
• Highlight to parents who are in receipt of a 30-hour funded place, that they must re-confirm their eligibility every 3 months, as prompted by HMRC and the consequences, should the parent fail to do so.
• Set out contractual expectations relating to specific models which combine ‘privately paid for’ and funded hours? E.g., 7:45am 12:00pm.
• Include charges for ‘privately paid for’ hours for 2-, 3 - and 4-year-olds?
• Clearly outline each of the funding entitlements offered for 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds and tell parents how they can apply?
• Highlight to parents that the provision of consumables will be provided at an additional, voluntary cost to the parent, during the days/sessions a child is accessing a funded place. Cost should be stated.
• Highlight to parents the school’s policy on how they will respond if parents are unwilling or unable to opt into any voluntary charges.
• State the terms, conditions and costs involved, for any parent wishingto purchase additional hours and any fees which will be incurred for late collection?
• Enable parents to easily reconcile fee information against their invoice, so that they can clearly identify what they have been charged for and why?
• State how parent can apply for and use a Tax-Free childcare account?
• Inform parents about additional funding payments such as Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) and Disability Access Funding (DAF)?

Invoices and receipts

Schools should ensure they have clear invoice/receipt structures in place which enable parents to easily reconcile invoices with charges detailed in the school’s fee information. Invoices should be fully itemised to show a breakdown of all aspects of the fee including funded hours, additional ‘paid for’ hours, and items.

Please note, funded entitlement hours must not be presented as a monetary value and therefore must be shown as zero cost. This is to ensure that parents can see that their children have received funded hours completely free of charge at the point of delivery.
Invoices will not be required where parent access funded hours only and do not pay for any additional voluntary charges.

Checklist for invoices and receipts

Is the following information clearly detailed on the invoice/receipt issued to parents?

• Provider name
• Provider address
• Provider contact
• Invoice number
• Invoice date
• Nursery tel/email
• Parent name and contact details
• Child’s name
• Itemised pricing information which is clearly reconcilable with the information you have provided on the fee information
• The total number of funded hours and weeks allocated for the term
• The total number of hours contracted to attend in this invoice period (both privately paid for and funded hours)
• The total number of funded hours claimed. These must be shown as hours and are not represented as a monetary value. E.g. 60 funded entitlement hours = £0.00
• Additionally purchased ‘privately paid for’ hours are clearly itemised E.g. 10 hours @ £? (School rate)
• Charges for consumable items are clearly listed

Early Education Funding Delivery - Compliant Invoice Examples

Please see examples of invoices [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/7302/early-education-funding-delivery---compliant-invoice-examples] that would be considered compliant with government and Coventry City Council requirements. Schools should use these examples to ensure compliance against the requirements.

Fees and charges

Deposits

Schools may ask parents to pay a ‘refundable’ deposit, to secure a child’s early education entitlement place.

Deposits in Academies and Free Schools

This deposit must be refunded to the parent, by the end of the first term in which the school receives the remittance payment of government funding for the named child, from Coventry City Council.

Deposits in Maintained Nursery Classes, Voluntary aided /Voluntary Controlled and Maintained Nursery Schools

The school must refund the deposit, to the parent, upon receipt of the first quarterly bank advance from Coventry City Council, following the child being admitted to nursery.
Schools will not be required to refund the deposit where a parent;

• chooses not to take up the funded place before census/headcount date.
• moves the child to a new provider/school after the start of a new funding term, but before the termly census/headcount date

In line with the Coventry Provider Funding Agreement and the Memorandum of Understanding for Maintained, Voluntary Aided / Controlled Schools a school must not charge a deposit for a child accessing a two-year funded place.

Voluntary charges

Schools can charge for meals, snacks and consumables such as nappies and sun cream as part of a free entitlement place, although these charges must be voluntary. Where parents are unwilling or unable to opt into these voluntary charges the school should have a policy in place which highlights alternative options for parents, such as providing their own items. The school’s policy for voluntary charges should include all items covered by the voluntary charges, and set out the options available to parents who choose not to opt-in. There should be a written agreement in place between the school and the parent which clearly sets out what items are included in the voluntary charge. Schools must ensure that the items included are for direct use by the child and not for standard use with all children across the provision. The additional voluntary charge must not include items such as art and craft materials which would be considered part of the basic education provision, staff training, personal protective equipment, hygiene or cleaning products. Written agreements should include a section to show whether the parent has opted in or out, and for how long. e.g., termly. Coventry’s Parent and Carer Agreement may be used for this purpose.

Fee information and payments

Schools must publish clear and transparent fee information for additional hours and items that parents will be charged for.
Schools should be clear about their billing approach, frequency and payment methods. For example, whether invoices will be issued on a weekly, monthly or termly; and whether tax-free childcare and other voucher schemes/discounts can be used if applicable. Invoices will not be required where parents access funded hours only and do not pay for any additional voluntary charges.

Operational models of delivery

Schools should deliver flexible packages of childcare, which support families to take up the Early Education Funding. Entitlement within the parameters set out in the statutory documents. Models should include standalone fully funded sessions and may additionally include models which offer a combination of privately paid for and funded hours. For children accessing funded hours before and after lunch, the lunchtime period should form part of the core funded hours and must not be charged as a ‘privately paid for’ hour. Government requirements stipulate, that children should be able to take up their funded entitlement place in continuous blocks of time.

To enable parents to make an informed decision about where their child takes up an early education entitlement place, schools should publish information about delivery models which include but is not limited to:

• The daily times covered by the core funded hours. Each school should set out which hours will be offered as ‘core hours’ and publish this in their information for parents. E.g. 8.30am – 2.30 pm for a 30-hour place
• The times and costs of any additional ‘privately paid for’ hours. E.g. outside of the designated core hours (8.30am – 2.30 pm for the purposes of this example)
• Any additional charges, which are not covered by the funded entitlement must be offered to parents as a voluntary ‘buy-in’ e.g. meals and consumable items, such as nappies, sun cream etc. Any additionally agreed ‘privately paid for hours’ will be subject to a private contract which is separate from the funding terms highlighted herein.
• Where the school asks parents to make voluntary charges, e.g. for the items such as those listed above, they must have a policy/statement which sets out alternative options for parents who are unable or unwilling to pay voluntary charges for items /services. For example, allowing the parent to supply their own items.

Tables 1 and 2 – Examples of funding delivery models

Examples of models offering standalone Early Education Entitlement Funding (EEF)

Type of funding	Max weekly funded hours	Days of the week	Core funded hours/sessions	Delivery model	Cost
EEF for 2 year olds	15	Monday to Friday	8.30am - 11.30am or 12noon - 3pm	Across 38 weeks	£0.00
EEF universal offer for 3 and 4 year olds	15	Monday to Friday	8.30am - 11.30am 0r 12noon - 3pm	Across 38 weeks	£0.00
EEF extended off for 3 and 4 year olds	30	Monday to Friday	8.30am - 2.30pm	Across 38 weeks	£0.00

Table 2

Examples of models offering a combination of privately paid for and funded hours.
For the purposes of these examples we have assumed the core funded nursery hours to be 8.30-am 2.30pm. School finishing time in these examples is 3.30pm.

Model 1

Model 1 assumes that the child is eligible to receive 15 hours of funding per week. The parent is opting to pay for additional periods which fall outside of the core funded hours. e.g. 7.45am to the start of the nursery core funded hours.

Model 1	Privately paid for hours/periods	Core funded entitlement hours	Max hours funding available per week	Hourly/session charge for 'privately paid for' hours	Cost for meals, snacks and consumables (optional buy in)
7.45am - 12noon	7.45am - 8.30am	8.30am - 11.30am (@ £0.00)	15	£? School to insert charge	?

Model 2

Model 2 assumes that the child is eligible to receive 15 hours of funding per week. The parent is opting to pay for additional hours which fall outside of the core funded hours. e.g. 11.30am–12.30pm.

Model 2	Privately paid for hours/periods	Core-funded entitlement hours	Max hours funding available per week	Hourly/session charge for 'privately paid for' hours	Cost for meals, snacks and consumables (optional buy in)
11.30am - 3.30pm	11.30am - 3.30pm	12.30pm - 3.30pm (@ £0.00)	15	£? School to insert charge	Lunch ? Consumables ?

Model 3

Model 3 assumes that the child is eligible to receive 30 hours of funding per week and the parent is opting to pay for additional hours which fall outside of the core funded hours.(e.g. 2.30pm to end of school day at 3.30pm).

Model 3	Privately paid for hours/periods	Core-funded entitlement hours	Max hours funding available per week	Hourly/session charge for 'privately paid for' hours	Cost for meals, snacks and consumables (optional buy in)
8.30am - 3.30pm	2.30pm - 3.30pm	8.30am - 2.30pm (@ £0.00)	30	£? School to insert charge	Lunch ? Consumables ?

 

Staffing ratios and qualifications

Free Schools and Academies

For children aged three and over in nursery classes, where a person with Qualified Teacher Status, Early Years Professional Status, Early Years Teacher Status or an approved level 6 qualification, an instructor* or another suitably qualified overseas trained teacher, is working directly with the children;

• there must be at least one member of staff for every 13 children
• in addition to a point 1 above, one other member of staff must hold an approved level 3 qualification
• when the teacher is not working directly with pupils, for short amounts of time e.g.lunchtime or Planning, Preparation and Assessment periods (PPA), a ratio of 1:8must be applied and at least one other member of staff must hold an approved level 3 qualification

For children aged two years:

• there must be at least one member of staff for every four children
• at least one member of staff must hold an approved level 3 qualification
• at least half of all other staff must hold an approved level 2 qualification
• staff must additionally be under the direction and supervision of a qualified or nominated teacher when carrying out specified work (as laid out in the Education (Specified Work) (England) Regulations 2012). Specified work broadly encompasses lesson (or curriculum) planning, delivering lessons, assessing the development, progress and attainment of pupils and reporting on the latter. The headteacher must be satisfied that the staff have the skills, expertise and experience needed to carry out the work and determine the appropriate level of direction and supervision

*An instructor is a person at the school who provides education which consists of instruction in any art or skill, or in any subject or group of subjects, in circumstances where: (a) special qualifications or experience or both are required for such instruction; and (b) the person or body of persons responsible for the management of the school is satisfied as to the qualifications or experience (or both) of the person providing education.

Maintained nursery classes, voluntary aided/voluntary controlled and maintained nursery schools

For children aged three and over:

• there must be at least one member of staff for every 13 children
• at least one member of staff must be a school teacher as defined by section 122 of the Education Act 2002
• at least one other member of staff must hold an approved level 3 qualification
• when the teacher is not working directly with pupils, for short amounts of time e.g.lunchtime or Planning, Preparation and Assessment periods (PPA), a ratio of 1:8must be applied and at least one other member of staff must hold an approved level 3 qualification.

For children aged two years

• there must be at least one member of staff for every four children
• at least one member of staff must hold an approved level 3 qualification
• at least half of all other staff must hold an approved level 2 qualification
• staff must additionally be under the direction and supervision of a qualifiedor nominated teacher when carrying out specified work (as laid out in the Education (Specified Work) (England) Regulations 2012). Specified work broadly encompasses lesson (or curriculum) planning, delivering lessons, assessing the development, progress and attainment of pupils and reporting on the latter. The headteacher must be satisfied that the staff have the skills, expertise and experience needed to carry out the work and determine the appropriate level of direction and supervision

Funding Documents for Early Years School Providers

Early Years Parent Funding Agreement 1 April 2024 - 31 August 2025

This form is to be completed by a parent or carer with legal responsibility for an eligible child, together with the chosen early years provider. Please review the details each term to ensure they are up to date before submitting your claim. 

• Early Years Annual Parent Funding Agreement 1 September2024 - 31 August-2025 (Word) [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/42157/early-years-parent-funding-agreement-1-september-2024-31-august-2025-word-]
• Early Years Annual Parent Funding Agreement 1 September2024 - 31 August-2025 (pdf) [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/42156/early-years-parent-funding-agreement-1-september-2024-31-august-2025-pdf-]
• Parent Funding Agreement Attendance Patterns Examples [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/38396/parent-and-carer-agreement-attendance-pattern-examples]

2-year-old Funding Process

This is the process you follow when offering a 2-year-old funded place 

• Early Years Process Offering 2 year funded place [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/35114/early_years_process_offering_2_year_funded_place]

This is a guide to the evidence required when parents are applying via the following routes:

• Children of Zambrano Carers 
• Children of families with no recourse to public funds ( NRPF) with a right to remain in the UK on the grounds of private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights;

Extended Entitlement (30 hours childcare) process

This funding is only available  for 3 and 4-year-old children where working parents meet the eligibility criteria 

View all Extended Entitlement (30 hours childcare) process documents [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/4728/extended_entitlement_30_hours_childcare_process]

• Extended Entitlement (30 hours childcare) process for providers [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/31630/30_hour_funding_flow_chart]
• Early Years Process Offering 30 hour funded place [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/35115/early_years_process_offering_30_hour_funded_place]
• Extended Entitlement (30 hours childcare) process [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/24801/extended_entitlement_30_hours_childcare_process] 

Posters to promote the 30-hour Extended Entitlement 

• 30 hours funding posters for 3 three terms [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/28713/30_hours_funding_posters_for_3_three_terms]

Helping parents to reduce their childcare costs

• Ways to reduce your childcare costs poster [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/30380/ways_to_reduce_your_childcare_costs_poster] 

Logged out of the portal or password not working

• What to do when you are logged out of the Early Years Portal [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/30619/what_to_do_when_you_are_logged_out_of_the_early_years_portal] 

If you have any questions about these documents, please contact the Early Years Business, Sufficiency and Funding Team: EYProviderfunding@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:EYProviderfunding@coventry.gov.uk]

How to claim Early Years Funding in Schools

Claiming Early Years Funding in Schools [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/31776/claiming_early_years_funding_in_schools_2021-22]

EYPP and DAF

Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP)

Schools who deliver the universal element of Early Education Funding to 3-and 4-year-olds, can claim Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) for eligible children. For eligibility criteria please go to: https://www.gov.uk/get-extra-early-years-funding [https://www.gov.uk/get-extra-early-years-funding]

Where parents or carers are found to be eligible, EYPP provides additional funding for the child’s nursery class provision.  This funding can be used to provide valuable support such as, extra staff training or resources to help enhance the quality of the child’s early education experience.  Schools are encouraged to speak to parents to explore which children will be eligible to receive EYPP funding.  For example the parents of children who took up the early education entitlement for 2-year-olds, as many of these children will potentially attract EYPP when they transition onto universal funding for 3-and-4-year-olds. 

Please also ensure that the EYPP section of the Parent Funding Agreement is completed by each early year’s provider the child attends. This avoids duplication of payment where a child takes their universal entitlement across two providers.  E.g. A School Nursery Class and a childminder.

If you have any queries relating to eligibility, please email the Business, Sufficiency and Funding Team at EYProviderfunding@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:EYProviderfunding@coventry.gov.uk]

Please access the following template to record the impact of EYPP funding EYPP Impact Sheet [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/38198/eypp-impact-sheet]

The poster and letter can be used to let parents know how their child might benefit from the additional funding that EYPP provides

• Early Years Pupil Premium Poster [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/28714/early_years_pupil_premium_poster] 
• Early Years Pupil Premium Sample Letter for parents [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/39632/early-years-pupil-premium-sample-letter-for-parents]

Making a Claim for EYPP

• Schools must use the Coventry Schools and Early Years Portal to validate EYPP claims.
• Pupils registered on the SIMMS system are automatically migrated to the Coventry Schools and Early Years portal.  Within SIMMS there is an option to tick a box to say if the child is eligible to receive EYPP, but this does not identify parental eligibility. To ensure payment, all claims must be put through the Coventry Schools and Early Years Portal.
• Parents must complete the relevant section of the annual Parent Funding Agreement form, prior to any information being uploaded to Coventry Schools and Early Years Portal.  This is to ensure compliance with GDPR
• To do this, a school administrator must: -
  • Log onto the Coventry Schools and Early Years Portal; Headcount task
  • Beside each child’s name is a blue box ~ click on this to open the sub-box
  • Enter parental details into this section as this provides us with the relevant permission to run checks against the main government database, identifying the family's EYPP eligibility.
  • Once the Early Years Data team has completed these checks and identified which children are eligible, the school will receive a list via the Coventry Schools and Early Years Portal
  • Following receipt of this list, the school should amend the child’s EYPP status on SIMMS.
  • Remove the names of any children who have moved onto Reception Class.

Disability Access Funding (DAF)

Disability Access Funding (DAF) is additional funding for children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), who are aged 3 or 4, in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and accessing some or all, of their Universal 15-hour Early Education Entitlement.

Only Schools claiming the universal entitlement will be eligible to apply for DAF. Where a child accesses universal funding across two providers, the parent may choose which provider receives DAF.

DAF is a one-off annual payment for each eligible child. It is essential that Schools claim as soon as possible, as some children will be eligible for a second payment, one year later.

The payment facilitates Schools to make reasonable adjustments to support children with SEND, including accessing staff training, purchasing resources, funding additional sessions etc.

• Read further information about Disability Access Funding Information for Providers [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/36892/disability_access_funding_information_for_providers].

Tax-Free Childcare - Information for schools

Working parents who are eligible for Tax-Free Childcare can set up an online Tax-Free Childcare account to pay for childcare.

For every £8 a parent pays into their Childcare Account, the government adds an extra £2. Parents could get up to £2,000 per child per year towards their childcare costs, or up to £4,000 for a child with a disability.

Parents will only be able to make payment to a School if that School is signed up to Tax-Free Childcare.

While parents can't make payments using both Tax-Free Childcare and (Employer) Childcare Vouchers, Schools who are signed up to Tax-Free Childcare can receive payments from both schemes.

Signing up for Tax-Free Childcare

Schools will need to sign up to receive payments from parents. 

To sign up you should be the main contact for your business. You’ll be able to set up a ‘delegate’ to manage your account for you during the process.

You’ll need your:

• 11-digit user ID from your invitation letter ~ if you did not get one or have lost it, contact the helpline [https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/childcare-service-helpline] on 0300 123 4097
• bank account details
• your business postcode (the one registered with your regulator, for example Ofsted)

If you are a maintained, voluntary aided or voluntary controlled school, you should contact your Local Authorities Finance team to find out their UTR and postcode and use that to sign up.

You can sign up online [https://childcare.tax.service.gov.uk/ccp/signup/signupcode] it usually takes around 10 minutes

Managing your account

Using your account is quick and easy. You can use it to:

• change your delegate information.
• update your bank account details.

If you don't want to run your own account, you can give access to someone else (your delegate), who'll be able to manage your account on your behalf, including updating your details in that account.

How parents can find you

Once you have signed up to Tax-Free Childcare, parents can use the Childcare Provider Checker to search for you, using your:

• name (the name you registered with your regulatory authority);
• address or postcode;
• regulator reference. For example, if you are registered with OFSTED this will be your Unique Reference Number (URN)

How parents make payments to you

Parents can use their Tax-Free Childcare account to make regular or one-off payments direct to your bank account. The payment should only take 2 to 3 working days to arrive in your bank account. When you receive a payment from a parent, this will include both their payment and the government contribution.

Tax-Free Childcare payments have a reference number of 4 letters and 5 numbers, followed by 'TFC'. The letters are made up of the first initial and the first 3 letters of the surname of the parent making the payment. For example, AJON12345TFC. This will help you link the payment to a specific child.

Memorandum of Understanding for Maintained Schools

This memorandum sets out the terms and conditions for the provision of funded childcare places in Coventry's Maintained schools.

• Memorandum of Understanding for Maintained schools September 2024 - August 2025 [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/33138/memorandum-of-understanding-for-maintained-schools-sept-2024-august-2025]

Provider Funding Agreement 2024 – 2025 for non-maintained or voluntary aided schools

Provider Funding Agreement 2024 – 2025 Terms and Conditions for non-maintained or voluntary aided schools [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/7161/provider-funding-agreement-terms-and-conditions]

This agreement must be completed annually so you can continue to claim Early Education Funding ( EEF) These terms and conditions set out the expectations between Coventry City Council (“the Council”) and (“Provider”) and refers to early year’s provision free of charge (sections 7 and 7A of the Childcare Act 2006) and free childcare (section 2 of the Childcare Act 2016) as the ‘free entitlement(s)’ or ‘free hours’ or a ‘free place’.

These terms apply to the 15 hour entitlement for the most disadvantaged two year olds, the 15 hour entitlement for parents of three and four year olds (the universal entitlement) and the additional 15 hours entitlement for working parents of three and four year olds (the extended entitlement). In addition to these, Disability Access Funding (DAF) and Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP).

The Provider Agreement is for:

• Local authorities
• Early years providers who are referred to as ‘Providers’ and include:
• Early years providers and childminders registered on the Ofsted Early Years Register;
• Childminders registered with a childminder agency that is registered with Ofsted;
• Independent Schools and Academies taking children age two and over and which are exempt from registration with Ofsted as an early years provider.

The Parent and Carer Agreement is for:

• Early years Providers, as set out above
• Parents

The Council is committed to the delivery of high-quality Early Education Places through supporting and monitoring provision in the city.

The Council and the Provider have agreed to enter into this agreement in order to provide the service of Early Education Places.

The Agreement shall come into effect on 1 September 2024 until 31 August 2025 unless terminated early in accordance with the terms of the Agreement.

Once you have read the full Terms and Conditions [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/7161/provider-funding-agreement-terms-and-conditions] you should complete and submit the Provider Funding Agreement Form [https://myaccount.coventry.gov.uk/en/service/2__3_and_4_Year_Old_Early_Education_Places___Provider_Funding_Agreement]. The Provider Funding Agreement form is for providers and non-maintained voluntary aided schools only and not for parents and carers.

If you are a parent, please contact the Early Years Business, Sufficiency and Funding Team - EYProviderfunding@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:EYProviderfunding@coventry.gov.uk] for support and guidance on Early Years funding. 

Funded weeks and payment schedule 2023 - 2024

The Funded weeks and payment schedule 2023-24 document [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/31524/funded-weeks-and-payment-schedule-2023-2024] outlines important dates related to submitting information onto the Coventry Schools and Early Years Portal including payment dates, funding rates and funding periods. Please remember the funding periods will not always reflect school term dates.

Funded weeks and payment schedule 2024 - 2025

The funded weeks and payment schedule 2024-2025 document [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/41743/funded-weeks-and-payment-schedule-2024-2025] outlines important dates related to submitting information onto the Coventry Schools and Early Years Portal including payment dates, funding rates and funding periods.

Please remember the funding periods will not always reflect school term dates.

Schools Early Years Funding Portal Guidance

Coventry Schools and Early Years Portal Support

What to do when you are logged out of the Early Years Portal [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/30619/what_to_do_when_you_are_logged_out_of_the_early_years_portal] 

Early Years Portal Downloads [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/4880/early_years_portal_downloads]

• Disability Access Funding Portal Guidance [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/33617/disability_access_funding_portal_guidance]
• Early Years Portal Guidance Two Year old funding [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/33618/early_years_portal_guidance_two_year_old_funding]
• Early Years Portal Extended Entitlement ( 30 hrs) guidance [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/33621/early_years_portal_extended_entitlement_30_hrs_guidance]
• Early Years Portal guidance [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/33619/early_years_portal_guidance] 

Parent Portal guidance for Two Year Old Funding [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/4791/parent_portal_guidance_for_two_year_old_funding]

• Two Year Old Funding Parent Portal guidance 2021-22 [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/25278/two_year_old_funding_parent_portal_guidance_2021-22] 

"How to videos" - Coventry Schools and Early Years Portal

How to successfully log onto the Headcount Portal

 

How to add a 2 year old 

How to add a 3 or 4-year-old

How to edit your headcount data

 

How to create a DAF application

Claiming for a child Post Census (PCH34)

Better Start - How to access your task

Better Start - How to submit an assessment

Better Start - How to run a report

Changes to Early Education Entitlements 2023 -2025

Starting from April 2024, existing childcare support will be expanded in phases. By September 2025, most working families with children under the age of 5 will be entitled to 30 hours of funded childcare.

These phases are as follows:

• From April 2024, eligible working parents of 2-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours childcare support.
• From September 2024, 15 hours childcare support will be extended to eligible working parents of children from the age of 9 months to 3-year-olds.
• From September 2025, eligible working parents of children under the age of 5 will be entitled to 30 hours of childcare a week.

Like the existing offer, these hours can be accessed across 38 weeks of the year (during school term time), or up to 52 weeks where the provider is offering a stretched model of delivery.

How many hours of childcare can parents access?

Age	Eligibility	Now	April 2024	September 2024	September 2025
9-23 months	Eligible working families	N/A	N/A	15	30
2 year olds	Current 2 year old funding criteria	15	15	15	15
2 year olds	Eligible working families	N/A	15	15	30
3 and 4 year olds	All	15	15	15	15
3 and 4 year olds	Eligible working families	30	30	30	30