Tax-Free Childcare and Free Hours Chooser

Your childcare setup

How this chooser works

The chooser applies the published GOV.UK tests in this order, then values each route from the bill and hourly price you enter.

1. Work test. Each adult (both, in a couple) must expect to earn at least 16 hours a week at their National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage over the next 3 months. With the April 2026 rates that is £2,643.68 at 21 or over (£12.71 × 16 × 13), £2,256.80 at 18 to 20 (£10.85) and £1,664 under 18 or as an apprentice (£8). Someone self-employed for less than 12 months is treated as passing. GOV.UK has further exceptions, for example for some people on leave or receiving certain benefits, which the chooser does not model.
2. Income test. Neither adult’s expected adjusted net income can be over £100,000. Going over removes both Tax-Free Childcare and the working-parent hours: there is no taper.
3. Age test. Tax-Free Childcare: the child must be 11 or younger, or 16 or younger if disabled. GOV.UK says a child stays eligible until the September after they turn 11 (16 if disabled), so for a child who is already 11 check that date; the chooser counts age only (GOV.UK, check if you’re eligible). Working-parent hours in England: 9 months to 4 years. Universal 15 hours: 3 and 4-year-olds in England.
4. Blocks. Tax-Free Childcare cannot be claimed at the same time as Universal Credit or childcare vouchers. The free hours are not blocked by either.
5. Funded hours value = 1,140 hours a year (30 hours × 38 weeks) or 570 hours (15 × 38) × your provider’s hourly price, capped at your annual bill.
6. Tax-Free Childcare top-up = 20% of what is left to pay after any funded hours, capped at £2,000 a child (£4,000 if disabled). The government adds £2 for every £8 you pay in, so its £2 is one fifth of each £10 spent. GOV.UK says one application checks you for both, and if you are eligible you can use the same childcare account for both.

Simplifications: the cap really works per 3-month period (£500, or £1,000 if disabled), not per year; providers can charge for meals, nappies, trips and extra hours; and the free-hours rules here are England’s only. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own schemes, while Tax-Free Childcare is UK-wide.

Worked example: the default figures

A single parent in England, aged 21 or over, expects to earn £5,000 over the next 3 months and has adjusted net income of £55,000. Their child is 20 months old and the nursery charges £8 an hour, £12,000 for the year.

So on a £12,000 bill, funded hours and the top-up together are worth £9,696, and the parent pays £2,304 for the year, plus any extras the nursery charges. If the same parent’s adjusted net income rose to £100,001, both routes would go and the full £12,000 would be payable: this is why the chooser links to the adjusted net income calculator.

Sources, checked 3 October 2026: GOV.UK, Tax-Free Childcare; GOV.UK, if you get Universal Credit or childcare vouchers; GOV.UK, free childcare if you’re working (eligibility, what you’ll get); GOV.UK, National Minimum Wage rates.