Flying Start funding for 2 year olds

Eligibility criteria

If you are not working or have a low household income the Flying Start offer might be right for you. There are three different funding offers to apply for. Please select the most relevant to your family circumstances. 

Offer 1 - in receipt of certain economic benefits

Your 2 year old can get funded early learning and childcare if you live in England and if you claim one of the following benefits:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Universal Credit, and your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax, not including benefit payments
• Child Tax Credits or Working Tax Credits (but not both) and you have an income of £16,190 or less a year, before tax
• Guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)

Apply for funding - offer 1

Offer 2 - those with additional criterion

Your 2 year old can get funded early learning and childcare if they have one or more of the following:

• Is looked after by a local authority.
• Has a statement of special education needs (SEN) or an education, health and care (EHC) plan.
• Gets Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
• Has left care under an adoption order, special guardianship order or a child arrangements order.
• No recourse to public funds.

If your immigration status says you have ‘no recourse to public funds’, you may still get funded early learning childcare for your 2 year old. You must live in England and your household income must be no more than:

• £26,500 for families outside of London with one child.
• £34,500 for families within London with one child.
• £30,600 for families outside of London with two or more children.
• £38,600 for families within London with two or more childcare.

Please note, you cannot have more than £16,000 in savings or investments.

Apply for funding - offer 2

Offer 3 - working foster parents

If you are a working foster parent and your foster child is 2 years old, you might be eligible for 570 hours of funded early learning childcare.

As a foster parent you will automatically be entitled to a Flying Start place. You will either be entitled to 570 hours of Flying Start funding or 570 hours of Take Off funding. You cannot take up both.

The Department for Education (DfE) guidance explains the criteria and process for foster parents in paid employment which is additional to their fostering duties. 

• Agreement from the responsible local authority that the foster parent engaging in paid work outside their role as a foster parent is consistent with the child’s care plan. The agreement that the foster parents can take up the funded childcare entitlement should be recorded and the care plan for the child should be updated as appropriate.
• That, in single parent foster families, the foster parent engages in paid work outside their role as a foster parent, although there is no minimum income requirement.
• And in two parent foster families, either both partners engage in paid work outside their role as a foster parent (although there is no minimum income requirement for either foster parent) or one partner engages in paid work and the other partner receives certain qualifying benefits.
• If one partner is not a foster parent, then that partner must be in qualifying paid work and earn a minimum of the equivalent to 16 hours at national minimum, unless they are receiving certain qualifying benefits. The Eligibility Checking System (ECS) is unable to perform the additional eligibility checks required so the Department has developed a parallel application process that uses existing delivery arrangements wherever possible. If one partner is not a foster parent, then that partner must be in qualifying paid work and earn a minimum of the equivalent to 16 hours at national minimum, unless they are receiving certain qualifying benefits. 

The initial application form needs to be completed by the foster parents for new children and countersigned by the child’s social worker so that eligibility for the working parent entitlement can be checked by the Childcare and Families Information Team (CFIT) before a voucher code is issued.

Please note, when applying as foster parent for the funding code with the Childcare and Families Information Team, you must apply before the Government cut off dates.  

Codes must have a start date on or before:

31 March to start in summer term - April
31 August to start in autumn term - September
31 December to start in spring term - January

Once a voucher code has been issued, the foster parents will then need to complete the revalidation form and get this countersigned by the child’s social worker every 3 months to continue receiving the fostered child’s funded early learning childcare. 

Apply for funding - offer 3

Please complete and submit the initial application form.

When does a Flying Start funded early learning childcare place start?

If you are entitled, your child can start the term after they turn two and finish at the end of the term in which they turn three. All families are eligible for 570 hours of funded three and four year old childcare, find out more about 3 and 4 year old childcare.

• If your child's birthday falls between 1  January and 31 March, they are eligible in the summer term after their second birthday.
• If your child's birthday falls between 1 April and 31 August, they are eligible in the autumn term after their second birthday.
• If your child's birthday falls between 1 September and 31 December, they are eligible in the spring term after their second birthday.

Getting a place

Have a look at our Childcare Directory to see all the providers offering funded places in your area.

Search the Childcare Directory

If you have a question or comment regarding finding suitable childcare, please contact us online.