15 hours universal vs 30 hours working-parent for 3 and 4 year olds — what is the difference?

Are the 15 hours and the 30 hours the same scheme?

No. For 3 and 4 year olds in England they are two pots that can add up to 30 hours, not one pot that everyone receives. Best Start in Life’s FAQ (updated 8 April 2026) splits them: a universal entitlement for all 3 and 4 year olds, and a working-parent entitlement that can be combined with it to make up 30 hours.

How do I take up the universal 15 hours?

GOV.UK says all 3 to 4 year olds in England can get 570 free hours a year, usually 15 hours a week for 38 weeks. It starts the term after the third birthday: 1 January, 1 April or 1 September. The place must be with an approved provider and stops when the child starts reception (or reaches compulsory school age, if later).

1. 1
   Check the term after the third birthday Born 1 January–31 March: hours from 1 April. Born 1 April–31 August: hours from 1 September. Born 1 September–31 December: hours from 1 January. Best Start in Life and GOV.UK use those dates.
2. 2
   Speak to the provider Take the child’s birth certificate. There is no Childcare Service apply and no 11-digit code. The setting handles the council claim.
3. 3
   Ask about stretch and extras Some settings offer fewer hours over more weeks. Meals, nappies, extra hours and trips can still be billed; they must not be a condition of the funded place.

What does the extra 15 hours need that the universal 15 does not?

A working-parent code. Apply on GOV.UK — Free Childcare for Working Parents if you live in England. HMRC issues an 11-digit code. You give the provider that code, your National Insurance number and the child’s date of birth. You must sign in every 3 months.

The work and income tests sit on Check if you are eligible. Each parent (if you have a partner who lives with you) must usually expect to earn at least the National Minimum or Living Wage for 16 hours a week, measured over the next 3 months, and neither parent’s expected adjusted net income can be over £100,000 for the tax year.

Since September 2025 the working-parent offer is 30 hours from the term after 9 months until school age, if you stay eligible. At age 3 that 30 already includes what used to be described as “15 + 15”. You do not add universal 15 on top of a full working-parent 30 to make 45.

If we lose the working-parent code, do we keep any hours?

The universal 15 remains. GOV.UK says so on the eligibility page: if you are not eligible for Free Childcare for Working Parents and the child is 3 or 4 and lives in England, you can still get 15 hours a week for 38 weeks. Statutory guidance valid from 1 April 2026 tells local authorities to keep funding those 15 hours after a working-parent grace period ends.

The extra 15 does not continue automatically. It may run for a short grace period if the child already has a working-parent place. After that end date the setting should switch the child to universal 15, if a place exists on those hours.

Does every 3 and 4 year old now get 30 hours after the 2025 expansion?

No. The 2025 expansion widened who can apply for working-parent hours — down to 9 months, and 30 hours through to school age for eligible working families. It did not turn the universal offer into 30 hours for every child. Best Start in Life still says all parents, regardless of employment or income, are eligible for 15 hours for 3 and 4 year olds.

If only one parent in a couple works, or a parent’s adjusted net income is over £100,000, the working-parent extra 15 is closed. The universal 15 is not.

In shortUniversal 15: every 3 and 4 year old in England, provider and birth certificate, no code. Extra 15: working-parent code, 3-monthly reconfirm, income tests. Together they make 30, not 45. Lose the code and the 15 remains.