Early Learning for 2 year olds Early Years Funded Entitlement

1 Overview

The Early Learning for 2 year olds Early Years Funded Entitlement (EYFE), previously known as 2 year old Local Authority (LA) Issued EYFE, is applied for directly through the LA you live in. Families who meet the eligibility criteria can claim up to 15 hours of funded childcare per week for 2 year olds.

This page will let you know how you can find out if your child is eligible for Early Learning for 2 year olds EYFE and how to apply.

The following table shows the date a child is born between and when they might become eligible for Early Learning for 2 year olds EYFE.

2 Early Learning for 2 year olds (LA Issued EYFE) income based benefits eligibility criteria

To access the Early Learning for 2 year olds EYFE, your child will need to be of eligible age, and you and your partner (if you have one) receive one or more of the following benefits or income criteria:

• Income Support
• Guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Universal Credit, and your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax, not including benefit payments

If you meet the eligibility criteria, applications can be made online.

3 Early Learning for 2 year olds (LA Issued EYFE) other eligibility criteria

Your child can get Early Learning for 2-year-olds EYFE if they are the right age and meet one of these conditions:

• they are a child looked after by the local authority
• they have been adopted*
• they are under a Special Guardianship Order*
• they have special educational needs or a disability (SEND) and either:
  • receive Disability Living Allowance*
  • has a current Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan*

You may also be able to get funding if your family has no recourse to public funds (NRPF)** and your household income is:

• £26,500 or less a year if you have 1 child
• £30,600 or less a year if you have 2 or more children

In a 2-parent family, both parents must meet the NRPF requirement. In a single-parent family, the parent must meet the requirement.

This includes families where a parent or carer:

• is a Zambrano carer
• has the right to stay in the UK because of private or family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights
• gets support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 and has NRPF restrictions
• has claimed asylum in the UK and are waiting for a decision (known as ‘part 6’)
• is supported under Section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• is a Chen carer
• holds a BN(O) passport
• has a spouse visa
• has a work visa
• has a student visa
• has no immigration status
• has a UK Ancestry Visa
• has temporary protection status under Section 12 of the Immigration and Nationality Act
• has pre-settled status but does not meet the qualifying right to reside test

*You must provide evidence when you apply.

**You must provide your immigration status share code and proof of income when you apply.

If you qualify through income-based benefits, you can apply online.

4 Application guidance

When you apply for the Early Learning for 2 year olds (LA Issued EYFE), you will be asked for:

• your name
• your address
• the name, gender and date of birth of each child
• the relevant eligibility criteria you are applying under and evidence, where requested
• your National Insurance Number or National Asylum Seeker's Service Number

You will be sent confirmation if your application for Early Learning for 2 year olds EYFE is successful. Your child can start their funded place at any time in the term after the confirmed start date.

We will inform you if your application is unsuccessful. If you have applied against the ‘income-based criteria’, we will automatically re-check your application once after four weeks has passed. After this time, re-apply if your circumstances have changed. If you have applied against the ‘other criteria’, we recommend checking your eligibility against the criteria, and if applicable, re-apply in the future.

Applications may take up to 21 working days to be processed. If this period has elapsed, or you have lost your letter from us, email funded.childcare@westsussex.gov.uk for help. You should check your spam and junk folder before getting in touch.

Once your child is eligible for Early Learning for 2 year olds EYFE, they remain eligible, even if your circumstances change. They can continue to access a funded place until the term after their third birthday. They could then access 3 and 4 year old Universal EYFE.

Visit our Early Years Funded Entitlement page for information on accessing your awarded EYFE, other types of EYFE and support to find suitable childcare.

If your childcare costs stop or your average weekly costs go down by £10 or more, let HMRC know as soon as possible when accessing the Early Learning for 2 year olds EYFE.

5 Accessing Early Learning for 2 year olds and Working Families funding

EYFE for Working Families and Early Learning for 2 year olds (LA Issued EYFE) can be used together.

If you are eligible for both types of childcare funding you should apply for Early Learning for 2 year olds EYFE. The additional benefits to accessing up to 15 hours Early Learning for 2 year olds EYFE are:

• you do not need to reconfirm your code each term
• once your child is awarded Early Learning for 2 year olds EYFE, they won’t lose it, even if your circumstances change
• you can access a funded childcare place after headcount, as being in receipt of Early Learning for 2 year olds EYFE is considered an exceptional circumstance for starting after headcount day - our further information and support web page explains headcount and exceptional circumstances

You should also apply for EYFE for Working Families, as this will allow you to access up to 30 hours funded childcare.

The Early Learning for 2 year olds EYFE will be used first, which gives you up to 15 hours per week during term time (or 570 hours per year). You can then claim up to an additional 15 hours per week (or another 570 hours per year) through the Working Families entitlement, which would bring the total to a maximum of 30 hours per week or 1,140 hours per year.

This works in a similar way to the funding for 3 and 4 year olds, where the Universal hours are used first, and the Extended hours are added on.

It is important to remember that if you are using the Working Families funding, you will need to reconfirm your code every 3 months to continue receiving the additional 15 hours.

6 Contact information

If you need help or any further information, contact us using the details below.