From September 2017 the government will increase free childcare to 30 hours a week nationally. Many working parents of 3 to 4-year-olds in England will be eligible for 30 hours of free childcare - rather than the current 15 hours.  Not everyone is eligible but everyone will still receive the 15 hours free childcare that is currently available.  The 30 hours free childcare is only 38 weeks per year - not 52 weeks of the year. It's basically equivalent to school term times - and totals 1140 free hours across the year. All providers can stipulate how they deliver the 30 hours. The entitlement can be spread out over the year.

Eligibility rules for 30 hours free childcare:

• Your child will be aged 3 or 4 when the scheme starts in your area
• Both parents must be working - or the sole parent is working in a lone parent family
• Each parent earns, on average, a weekly minimum equivalent to 16 hours at National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage.
• Each parent must have an annual income of less than £100,000
• You live in England

The extra funding is to:

• support working parents to manage the cost of childcare
• support parents into work
• enable parents to increase their working hours

For more information please go to https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/30-hours-free-childcare-eligibility