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Claim early years entitlement

Find out how to claim the early years entitlement (EYE) if you provide early years or childcare to two, three or four year olds.

Eligibility

Children

All three and four year olds can claim 15 hours (universal entitlement) per week, and some are eligible for an additional 15 hours (extended entitlement). And some two year olds can also claim for funding. See our Childcare for two, three and four year olds  page for further information.

Provider

To claim for EYE (including registered childminders), you need to be:

You will also need to download and sign a local code of practice/provider agreement, to accept the terms and conditions associated with receiving the EYE.

Please note, to claim the EYE for eligible two year olds, you need to be graded "good" or "outstanding" by Ofsted.

Claim for EYE

Two year olds

For two year olds eligible for 15 hours, the parent or carer should have a four digit code, which they must give you to confirm their eligibility. Two-year funding can start any date after the issue of the code once the child is eligible by age.

Three and four year olds

For three and four year olds eligible for 30 hours, the parent or carer will confirm their eligibility through an online checker and then give you a code. You will need to verify this code through another online checker provided by us. Eligibility will need to be rechecked regularly by the parent or carer, and you will be advised if the code is past it’s eligibility date.

On paper headcounts, parents or carers need to state if the hours claimed are universal (U) or extended entitlement (E).

Forms

EYE2 form

This new starter declaration form supplies us with full child details and must be completed once, when the child becomes eligible for funding with you. All information on this form will be used for the entitlement until the child becomes of school age. You must supply current information regarding the child’s attendance with you and any other funded provider. For funded two year olds, or three and four year olds eligible for 30 hours (extended offer), unique codes also need to be supplied. You can also register for Pupil Premium using this form.

Download and complete our EYE2 form and email to eye@bathnes.gov.uk, or post to: Early Years and Extended Services, Bath and North East Somerset Council, Lewis House, Manvers Street, Bath BA1 1JG.

EYE3 form

If you are notified of any changes after the headcount deadline date, these need to be submitted to us by the amendment date on this EYE3 form. Each amendment must be signed by the parent or carer, unless the child has left. If any amendments are submitted later than the key dates specified for each term, then the payment will take place in the following term and in addition, there will be no guarantee that the entitlement will be split as anticipated if a child is claiming at more than one provider.

Download and complete our EYE3 form and email to eye@bathnes.gov.uk, or post to: Early Years and Extended Services, Bath and North East Somerset Council, Lewis House, Manvers Street, Bath BA1 1JG.

Payment for EYE

Once you register with us, we will contact you regularly to request information to support the claim for your child or children. We will pay you when we receive this information, in two payments.

Estimate payment

We will ask you to provide an estimate of the numbers of funded children and funded hours before the start of each term, and you will receive a lump sum payment based on this. No individual child details are required at this stage.

Balance payment

We will ask you to provide headcount information on a summary EYE1 headcount form, and new starter/parent declaration EYE2 form at the start of each term, and you will receive payment based on this. Additional information may also be supplied on an amendment EYE3 form.

If there are any changes to hours attended from those stated on the forms, these can be noted on the same form for the parent to sign. If it is known at the start of term that a child will only be attending for some weeks of the term, this can be stated on the EYE1 form (for example a child may be leaving at half term) and further mid-term adjustment payments can be made.

How much can be claimed?

Two year olds

The two year old funding is paid at a fixed hourly rate for all providers.

Three and four year olds

The three and four year old funding is based on a Single Funding Formula (SFF) for all providers and is made up of the following elements:

  • A basic hourly rate paid to all providers delivering EYE
  • A small deprivation supplement paid for all funded hours to all providers EY Pupil Premium pays an additional rate per hour for eligible children
  • Additional deprivation supplement for children identified to receive EY Pupil Premium (based on universal entitlement only)

Amount of hours you can offer

You can choose to offer the full entitlement of hours, your current number of hours or offer somewhere in between as best suits your business model, or opening hours. If a child is eligible for 30 hours, this doesn't mean you have to offer them 30 hours. They could take some of these with you and some with other providers. 

In the current financial year the entitlement is split into three terms. The total hours you can offer will depend on how many hours a child is eligible for.

Alternatively, you can opt to spread the funding entitlement over fewer hours for more weeks of the year allowing total hours per term as follows:

Term Term time only maximum All year round maximum (15 hours) All year round maximum (30 hours)
Autumn 14 weeks x 15 hours or 30 hours 210 total 420 total
Spring 11 weeks x 15 hours or 30 hours 165 total 330 total
Summer 13 weeks x 15 hours or 30 hours 195 total 390 total

Although the entitlement (15 or 30 hours) is for 38 weeks, if you're open for more weeks you can spread the total amount of hours (for example, 38 weeks x 15 hours) over more weeks. However, this isn't mandatory and you would need to agree this with the parent or carer.

Additional hours (extended offer) for three and four year olds

If a three or four year old is eligible for 30 hours, this must be confirmed before the start of the term. However, if they become eligible part way through a term, the extended offer can only be used after the start of the next term.

As long as the parent has a valid code before the start of the term, you can choose to let the funded hours start or change part way through that term, at an appropriate time, which could be the next billing period, or the next term.

How long does the extended offer last?

The parent or carer will be sent reminders to check their eligibility for 30 hours funding every three months. In a small number of cases, the parent may no longer be eligible, but there is a grace period in which the funding can still be offered as follows.

Date parent or carer becomes ineligible Audit date Grace period end date
1 Jan to 10 Feb 11 Feb 31 Mar
11 Feb to 31 Mar 1 Apr 31 Aug
1 Apr to 26 May 27 May 31 Aug
27 May to 31 Aug 1 Sep 31 Dec
1 Sep to 21 Oct 22 Oct 31 Dec
22 Oct to 31 Dec 1 Jan 31 Mar

Funding split between providers

Funding can be split between more than one provider, but the parent or carer must declare on the EYE form how many hours they want to claim at all providers.

Where one provider offers funding term time and the other offers all year funding, the parent or carer should declare the total hours being claimed at each provider. This will also apply for children attending one provider in B&NES and other providers in another local authority.

A child can claim at a maximum of two providers during one day, and a maximum of three providers in total. If the total claim for a three and four year old child is more than 15 hours per week (or the total for the 15 hours claim for that term), they will need to confirm their eligibility for up to 30 hours a week by supplying you with a code.

Key dates

Please note that from 2020 onwards, paperwork return dates may be subject to change dependent on the implementation of a new IT system. We will retain payment dates.

Autumn 2023
Milestone Date
Estimate submission window 3 to 14 July 2023
Estimate payment to you 18 August 2023
Headcount day 15 September 2023
Headcount submission window 15 to 29 September 2023
Actual payment and individual child allocation details to you 3 November 2023
Mid-term amendments submitted by 17 November 2023
Mid-term payment 8 December 2023
   
Spring 2024
Milestone Date
Estimate submission window 20 to 30 November 2023
Estimate payment to you 8 December 2023
Headcount day 18 January 2024
Headcount submission window 18 to 25 January 2024
Actual payment and individual child allocation details to you 1 March 2024
Mid-term amendments submitted by 12 March 2024
Mid-term payment 26 March 2024
   
Summer 2024
Milestone Date
Estimate submission window 11 to 20 March 2024
Estimate payment to you 9 April 2024
Headcount day 26 April 2024
Headcount submission window 26 April to 7 May 2024
Actual payment and individual child allocation details to you 7 June 2024
Mid-term amendments submitted by 28 June 2024
Mid-term payment 12 July 2024