Free Childcare Hours in Buckinghamshire: A Complete Guide for Marlow and Hazlemere Families

Funded childcare is the question we are asked most at The House That Jack Built, at show-arounds in Marlow Bottom and Hazlemere, on the phone and at the gate. The system has grown a lot since September 2025, and the rules for a nine-month-old, a two-year-old and a four-year-old are all slightly different. This guide puts everything in one place: what you are entitled to at each age, how to apply in Buckinghamshire, the deadlines that catch families out, and exactly how your hours are spread across the year at our nurseries.

If you only want to check your own eligibility, Childcare Choices is the official starting point.

Free childcare hours at a glance

Your child's age	What is available	Who qualifies
9 months to 2 years	Up to 30 hours a week	Eligible working parents
2 years	Up to 30 hours a week	Eligible working parents
2 years	15 hours a week	Families receiving certain support, see below
3 and 4 years	15 hours a week	Every child, no conditions
3 and 4 years	A further 15 hours, so 30 in total	Eligible working parents

All of these are based on 38 weeks a year, which is the school year. That detail matters, and we come back to it below when we explain how the hours are stretched.

From 9 months: 30 hours for working families

Since September 2025, eligible working parents can get 30 hours of funded childcare a week from the term after their child turns 9 months old, right through until they start school. It is the full 30 hours from 9 months, not 15 rising to 30 later.

To qualify, each parent (or the sole parent) needs to expect to earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the National Minimum or Living Wage, and neither parent can have an adjusted net income over £100,000. That £100,000 limit applies to each parent separately, not to your combined household income. The minimum earnings figure changes every April, so check it on Childcare Choices rather than relying on a number you read last year.

For 2-year-olds: two different routes

There are two separate offers for 2-year-olds, and it is easy to mix them up.

• The working-parent offer. If you meet the working criteria above, your 2-year-old can have up to 30 hours, exactly as for a younger child.
• The 15-hour offer for families receiving support. This is for families on certain benefits, including Universal Credit with household earnings under £15,400 a year, or where a child has an Education, Health and Care Plan or has been looked after by the local authority. It starts the term after your child turns 2.

If you could be eligible for both, apply for the 15-hour support offer first. You may then qualify for an extra 15 hours through the working-parent scheme. In Buckinghamshire the 15-hour support offer is applied for through the council rather than GOV.UK. If you have applied before and lost your 6-digit reference, you can email 2yearoldfunding@buckinghamshire.gov.uk to get it back.

For 3 and 4-year-olds: 15 hours for everyone

Every 3 and 4-year-old in England gets 15 hours a week from the term after their third birthday. There is no application, no income test and no work requirement. You simply tell us you want to use it.

If you also meet the working-parent criteria, the 15 hours extends to 30. Unlike the universal 15, you need a valid code from GOV.UK for the extra hours. Both entitlements end when your child starts Reception.

How to apply in Buckinghamshire

For any working-parent hours you apply online through GOV.UK. It is one application for both 30 hours and Tax-Free Childcare, and it tells you whether you can get each.

1. Apply early. You can apply up to 16 weeks before your child turns 9 months old, and there is no reason to wait.
2. Know the term dates. Funding terms start on 1 January, 1 April and 1 September. Buckinghamshire Council asks you to apply by the end of the month before the term you want to start in. For a January start, that means applying by 31 December.
3. Bring your code to us. Once you have it, send your code to your nursery straight away so we can check it and confirm your funded hours before the term starts.
4. Reconfirm every three months. Your code is not a one-off. You must reconfirm your details in your GOV.UK childcare account every three months or the code expires. HMRC sends a reminder, and you can reconfirm up to four weeks before the date. Do not rely on the grace period, because it is not a second deadline.

Getting 30 hours can affect tax credits, so if you receive them it is worth checking your position on GOV.UK before you apply. For exact local deadlines, the Buckinghamshire Family Information Service is the place to check.

How your funded hours work at The House That Jack Built

This is the part most guides skip. The government funds 30 hours a week for 38 weeks, which is 1,140 hours a year (570 hours for the 15-hour offer). A nursery that is open all year cannot give you 30 hours in every week, so the year's hours are spread out, or "stretched", across the weeks your child actually attends. We offer two ways to do this.

Standard 51-week places

Both our Marlow Bottom and Hazlemere nurseries are open 51 weeks of the year, closed only on bank holidays. On a standard place, the full year's entitlement is spread across all 51 weeks:

• 30-hour families: about 22.35 funded hours every week
• 15-hour families: about 11.17 funded hours every week

This suits most working parents, because your funded hours keep going through the school holidays when you are still at work.

Our 43-week term-time option

If you would rather your child had school holidays off, we also offer a 43-week option. Your child does not attend, and you are not charged for their place, for nine weeks of the year: one week at February half-term, two at Easter, one at May half-term, two in summer, one at October half-term and two at Christmas. We confirm the exact dates each year.

Because the same 1,140 hours are spread over fewer weeks, you get more funded hours in each week you attend:

• 30-hour families: about 26.51 funded hours a week
• 15-hour families: about 13.26 funded hours a week

One thing we always say clearly: even on the 43-week option you do not get 30 funded hours in each week. The funding covers 38 weeks, so spreading it across more weeks always means fewer funded hours in each one.

What you pay on top

Hours your child attends beyond their funded allowance are charged at our normal rates. Our fees and funding page sets out the monthly cost for two to five days a week, with 15 or 30 funded hours already taken off, so you can see what you would actually pay. These figures assume your child takes their full entitlement with us. If your child starts partway through the year, or splits their hours with another provider, the numbers change, and we will work them through with you.

Tax-Free Childcare: use it alongside your funded hours

Tax-Free Childcare is separate from funded hours, and you can use both together if you are eligible. For every £8 you pay into your Tax-Free Childcare account, the government adds £2, up to £2,000 a year per child (£4,000 if your child is disabled). You can then pay the part of your fees not covered by funding from that account. It cannot be used at the same time as Universal Credit childcare support or childcare vouchers, so if you receive those, check which works out better for you.

Funded places in Marlow Bottom and Hazlemere

We accept 15 and 30 hour funding at both our nurseries:

• Marlow Bottom, 59-61 Marlow Bottom Road, an 80-place nursery taking children from 3 months to 5 years.
• Hazlemere, 12 Chestnut Lane, a smaller 18-place nursery in a converted bungalow, taking children from 6 weeks to 5 years.

At both, the standard nursery day runs from 8am to 6pm, with an early start from 7:30am if you need it.

If you would like to talk through your own numbers, the easiest way is in person. Book a show-around at Marlow Bottom or Hazlemere, bring your questions about funding, and we will work out what your weekly hours and monthly fees would look like.