Funding

At Little Jems, we want funding to feel simple. We offer all government funding schemes including stretched offers, with no extra costs.

Funded childcare at Little JEms

15 hours universal
Age: 3 & 4 years
Eligibility: available to all, regardless of circumstances
15 hours conditional
Age: 2 years
Eligibility: families who receive certain benefits (eg. universal credit or income support) or meet other qualifying circumstances
30 hours for working parents
Age: 9 months+
Eligibility: both parents (or single parent) earning at least 16 hours a week at minimum wage, and less than £100k each per year

Not sure which you qualify for?

No hidden costs

Many nurseries charge top-up fees on top of your funded hours. We don’t. At Little Jems your funded hours are genuinely free - with no consumable charges either. Meals, nappies, wipes and formula are always included at no extra cost, whether your child is here on funded or paid hours.

Stretched Funding

We offer stretched funding, so your hours don’t have to be used up in a single 38 week school year. Instead, we can spread your funded hours across more weeks of the year at a lower number of hours per week. Helpful if you’d like more consistent, year round childcare rather than term-time only care.

Combining funded and paid hours

If you need more hours than your funding covers, you can top these up with paid hours at Little Jems. These extra hours will be billed monthly at our specified rates.

How to apply

If you’re applying for the universal 15 hours, just get in touch and we’ll take care of the rest for you. For funding that requires eligibility:

Check your eligibility
https://childcare.beststartinlife.gov.uk/
Get your eligibility code
you’ll need to confirm this every 3 months
Tell us your code
along with your national insurance number and child’s date of birth
We’ll confirm your place
as well as your funding start date