Fees and funded hours calculator

Estimate your monthly nursery bill in England after free childcare hours and Tax-Free Childcare. It’s a rough guide only: check the official rules on gov.uk.

Are you (and your partner, if you have one) working?

Your estimate

£182 a month

about £2,184 a year, averaged over 12 months

Childcare before funding (30 hours a week, 51 weeks)
£10,710
Funded hours (30 a week, about 1140 hours a year)
−£7,980
Tax-Free Childcare top-up
−£546
You pay (a year)
£2,184

Funded hours: 15 universal hours for every 3 and 4 year old, plus 15 through Free Childcare for Working Parents.

This is an estimate, not a quote. Nurseries work out funded hours and extra charges in different ways, and prices change. Funded hours usually start the term after your child becomes eligible (1 January, 1 April or 1 September). Always check your eligibility on gov.uk and ask the nursery for a written quote.

How we work it out

  • Free Childcare for Working Parents: 30 hours a week for 38 weeks a year for children from 9 months until they start school, if you (and your partner) each expect to earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the National Minimum or Living Wage, and neither of you expects adjusted net income over £100,000. Check on gov.uk.
  • 15 hours for all 3 and 4 year olds, whatever your income. Check on gov.uk.
  • 15 hours for 2-year-olds getting extra support, for example on some benefits. Check on gov.uk.
  • If your nursery lets you stretch funded hours over more than 38 weeks, you get fewer funded hours each week but the same number in the year. We assume this when you choose more than 38 weeks.
  • Tax-Free Childcare: the government adds £2 for every £8 you pay, up to £2,000 a year per child (£4,000 if your child is disabled). The nursery must be signed up, and you can’t get it at the same time as Universal Credit childcare help. Check on gov.uk.
  • We value funded hours at your nursery’s hourly price (the daily price divided by the hours in a day). Nurseries can charge for extras such as meals, but they must offer an alternative and can’t make paying a condition of a funded place.

To check everything you could get, use the government’s Childcare Choices calculator.