Early years funding updates

To try and co-ordinate important messages we are including funding updates on this webpage. This will include everything that is current. We recommend that you ‘bookmark’ or save this webpage as a ‘favourite’ so you can easily refer to it.

  • Spring Headcount Task Guidance

    The spring headcount task is now available with a deadline of 23.59 on Sunday 25th January 2026.

    Please note that you must submit all your headcount tasks, even if you do not have any funded children in a particular age group. This is a condition of funding as per our provider agreement.

    We have provided guidance below on how to complete your tasks.

    IMPORTANT: ‘Entitlement weeks’ column

    This column is to support the early years census and is to record the number of weeks a child intends to take their funded hours across the full year.

    • The ‘entitlement weeks’ field defaults to 0 for existing children and blank for a newly added child.
    • If a child is ‘stretching’ their funding and is intending to take their hours over more than 38 weeks, you can update the weeks to be between 38 and 52 weeks.
    • If you try and save a value outside of the range 38 to 52 weeks you will get the following message “Entitlement Weeks should be in the range of 38 to 52 for all the eligible child records”
    • If a child is not claiming any funded hours, no figure should be recorded in ‘entitlement weeks.
    • If a child joins/leaves part way through the year, please record the number of entitlement weeks that you would have expected them to attend had they been with you for the full year. This would typically be based on your 38-week term-time model or stretched all year-round model.

    Completing the headcount task/s

    • Please ensure the correct start date is recorded for any new children as it will automatically default to 1st January 2026.
    • Please note that if you added any new children to the autumn amendment task/s in preparation for them becoming funded from spring, you will not be able to amend/change their start date.
    • For under 2s, and 2-year-old funded children that are entitled to the working entitlement funding you will need to enter your weekly hours/hours claimed for the funding period in the ‘working entitlement’ columns.
    • For 2-year-olds that are entitled to the ‘targeted/families receiving additional support (FRAS)’ funding, you will need to enter your hours claimed for the funding period in the ‘targeted/universal’ columns.
    • For 2-year-olds that are entitled to both the ‘targeted/families receiving additional support (FRAS)’ and ‘working entitlement’ funding hours should be recorded in all four columns. Please maximise the funding in the ‘targeted/universal’ columns first and add any balance of hours (if applicable) to the ‘working entitlement’ columns.
    • For 3- & 4-year-olds that are eligible for the ‘universal funding’ only, not the working entitlement (extended hours), please record the hours in the universal columns.
    • For 3- & 4-year-olds, who are also eligible for the ‘working entitlement’ please record hours in all four columns.

    Weekly and termly hours should be split 50/50 and half recorded in the ‘universal’ column and the other half in the ‘working entitlement’ column.

    For example, a child claiming 30 hours per week & 400 hours for the funding period, would be recorded as 15 hours in both weekly ‘universal’ and ‘working entitlement’ columns and 200 hours in both ‘universal’ and ‘working entitlement’ hours for the funding period columns.

    Weekly hours can be claimed in multiples of 0.25 but this cannot be split across the weekly columns, for example, a child claiming 14.25 hours per week would be recorded as 7.25 hours in ‘universal’ and 7 hours in ‘working entitlement’.

    Please remember

    • There must be a ‘WE’ icon in the funding column to allow hours to be entered into the working entitlement fields.
    • If there is no ‘WE’ icon, please ensure that you have run a check on the code, that the child is entitled to the funding for spring as per their eligibility dates and the details i.e. name/date of birth used to run the code check match the task. You may need to add the working entitlement code to the child’s record on the task by clicking on the ‘edit child details’ button to the left of their name.
    • If a parent has been issued with a temporary working entitlement code (begins ‘11’) then you need to ensure the correct code is being used for the current funding period. Temporary codes do not get renewed and will change when the parent reconfirms. You must ensure that the correct working entitlement code is showing against the child’s record on the task. You can do this by clicking on the ‘edit child details’ button to the left of their name
    • You cannot run a check on a targeted/families receiving additional support (FRAS) 2-year-old funding code. You need to ensure that you have seen evidence of eligibility which will also contain the earliest date that the child can take up the funded place. Once you have seen this, you can claim funding in the usual way. We do suggest that you keep a copy on file in case of any query.
    • If the child has moved from, or sharing hours with another setting, you must contact the other provider and confirm their pattern of attendance, total hours claimed for spring and leaving date if appropriate including notice period (up to 4 weeks allowed for funding).
    • For children that are sharing funding, you must follow our Provider process for children sharing early years funding (headcount)
    • Please collect and add parent/carer data for all children listed on your spring headcount task who are not listed on a previous EYPP report (issued via the Provider Portal) and who would be eligible for EYPP based on household income and qualifying benefits. There is a different process for children in care or those who have left care subject to an adoption, special guardianship or child arrangement order. Please refer to our EYPP webpage for more details.
    • As per our provider agreement we cannot fund decimal claims. A weekly claim can be in multiples of 0.25 hours (15 minutes). The total funding period must be claimed in multiples of 0.5 hours. If there is an odd number of weeks, your total claim for the funding period must be reduced to the nearest 0.5 hour (half hour/ 30 minutes). Data changes will be subject to an administrative charge.

    The deadline for submissions is 23.59 on Sunday 25th January 2026.

    Please note that our Early Years Funding Helpdesk is open from 9.00am until 4.00pm Monday to Friday and we are only able to provide support during these times.

    Frequently asked questions:

    Can we claim 30 hours if a 2-year-old funded child is entitled to targeted/families receiving additional support (FRAS) and working entitlements?

    Yes, if a child is eligible for both the targeted/families receiving additional support (FRAS) and working entitlement you can claim up to 30 hours per week.

    How do I record the funding if a 2-year-old child is entitled to the targeted/families receiving additional support (FRAS) and working entitlements?

    Hours should be recorded in all four columns. Please maximise the funding in the ‘targeted/universal’ columns first and add any balance of hours (if applicable) to the ‘working entitlement’ columns.

     Why are the working entitlement boxes not available for my 2-year-old claim?

    The working entitlement boxes will not appear if there isn’t an ’WE’ icon in the funding column on the task. Please ensure that you have run a check on the working entitlement code and that it is eligible for the spring funding period by looking at the eligibility dates or the ‘earliest start date for working entitlement funding’ in review previous checks.

    If you have run a check, and the child is eligible, please click on the ‘edit child details’ to the left of the child’s name on the task and enter the working entitlement code into the relevant field. Once you have saved the changes, the ‘WE’ icon should appear in the funding column and allow you to enter the hours on to the task.

    Please note that when you run a Working Entitlement code check and select ‘Check new child,’ the code will not automatically be added to child’s details on the headcount task.

    When I enter 20 hours on the 3- & 4-year-old task it is imputing 15 hours in the Universal column and 5 hours in the Working Entitlements column, it is not splitting it 50%?

    You will have to overtype the weekly hour fields and record 50% of the weekly hours in each column for universal and working entitlements.

  • 2-Year-Old funding: Working Entitlements and Families Receiving Additional Support (FRAS)

    There are two different funding streams available for 2-year-olds who meet the eligibility criteria.

    • The working entitlement is up to 30 hours per week. This is for parents that meet the minimum income requirements of 16 hours a week at the National Minimum Wage, or who have a carers role.
    • The targeted 2-year-old funding is up to 15 hours per week. This is for non-working, or low-income households, who are also in receipt of a qualifying benefit, for children who are in care or who have left care subject to an adoption, special guardianship or child arrangement order, for children that are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or children who have an Education, Health Care Plan (EHCP). Targeted 2-year-old funding has previously been referred to as disadvantaged 2-year-old funding or 2gether funding in Devon.

    The DfE have recently updated their terminology and have started to refer to ‘targeted’ 2-year-old funding as ‘Families Requiring Additional Support’ (FRAS) and in the coming months we will be updating our systems and guidance to reflect this change. It is important that you inform your staff and update your parent literature to ensure everyone is familiar with the term ‘FRAS’ funding.

    Applications for FRAS are made on the Devon Citizen’s Portal.

    Parents can find details on how to apply for the working entitlement, and information on other help that is available for childcare costs by visiting Best Start in Life

    To access the working entitlement from 1st January 2026 (spring term 2026) a parent must have applied and received their code by 31st December 2025.

    If a family advises that they are eligible for 2-year-old funding the process remains the same.

    • If they have working entitlement they will have been issued with an 11-digit code that starts ‘50’, ‘11’ (or ‘40’ if a foster carer). You will need to run a check on the code using the parent’s national insurance number via the provider portal to confirm if it is eligible for the relevant funding period.
    • If a family advises that they are entitled to 2-year-old funding (FRAS), and applied via Devon County Council,  they would have been issued with a TYF878 code. They will need to show you written confirmation to confirm eligibility, and this will also show the earliest date that they can take up the funded place. You cannot run a check on this code, or add it to a task, you just need to see the evidence (the code alone is not sufficient). We suggest that you keep a copy on file in case of any query.
    • If a family has been awarded the 2 year old funding by another local authority, we ask that you direct them to the Devon Citizen Portal to make an application. If their circumstances have changed since this was previously awarded, please ask them to request help and attach a copy confirming their eligibility to their Devon application so we can manually assess. If they are still deemed as eligible, they will be issued with an email/portal message which will confirm this.

    FRAS funding for 2-year-olds can be used alongside the working entitlement for a combined maximum of 30 hours a week (1140 hours a year).  Information is provided in our Headcount and Amendment Guidance regarding the process for claiming hours on the headcount and amendment tasks.

    There is no universal entitlement for 2-year-olds so there will be some 2-year-olds that don’t qualify for funding. If one parent is working and the household income is too high to qualify for FRAS, or parent/s are working, and their earnings exceed the £100,000 limit for working entitlements they won’t be eligible.

    Please ensure that you have confirmed a child’s eligibility for the funding before offering a funded space.  Until eligibility is confirmed you should only allocate hours as fully chargeable and ensure that this is reflected in your contracts.

  • Early Years Expansion Grant (EYEG)

    For 2025/26 we have received a grant of £966,227 from the Department for Education (DfE) for the final phase of the roll-out of the working entitlements.  From September 2025, the working entitlements for eligible 2-year-olds and under will increase to up to 30 hours per week.

    Local authorities must distribute the funding in a clear and transparent manner and consider specific growth needs in their area to meet their sufficiency duty.

    Whilst the funding is calculated on uplifting the 2-year-old and under 2’s funding rate, due to provider feedback, we have decided to distribute an increase across all ages (£778K) and retain some funding (£188K) for revenue grants in areas where we know new development will be required in 2025.  Due to more 3- & 4-year-olds accessing a higher number of funded hours, it does reduce the amount of increase we can allow on each of the funding rates.

    The increases in hourly rates from 1st April 2025 (summer funding period) is as follows:

    3- & 4-year-olds = 6p per hour

    2-year-olds = 4p per hour

    Under 2’s  = 4p per hour

    Therefore, the new hourly rates from 1st April 2025 will be:

    3- & 4-year-olds = £5.56

    2-year-olds = £7.46

    Under 2’s = £9.96

    All hourly rates above include 10p for universal SEND and 4p for universal Deprivation.

    The increased hourly rates will be used to calculate the funding due for summer once the summer headcount tasks have been submitted. This will be shown on the financial breakdown report that will be issued via the provider portal once the balancing headcount payment is made at the end of June.  Please note that we will not be amending monthly forecast payments.

    This is a one-year grant so these increases will be removed from the funding rates from April 2026 and the normal DfE increases will be allocated once known.

    If you are looking at a further development for 2-year-olds or under in an area of need, please speak with your EYCA so we can advise on the grant availability.

    Please ensure this communication is shared with the business owners, directors, finance colleagues and anyone else who needs to be aware.

  • Updated Statutory Guidance re: Charges

    Further to our email sent on Friday 28th March, we have made some amendments to our existing provider agreement with regards to charges and notice periods. The changes are as follows:

    Section 4: Charging parents – opening statement added

    Section 4: Charging parents – Notice periods 4.21 amended

    Section 4: Charging parents – Notice period original 4.21 now 4.22

    Section 10: Termination and withdrawal of funding – Ofsted/ISI outcomes 10.6 amended

     Any reference to consumables, service charges or additional charges are now referred to as ‘chargeable extras’.

    We will continue to make amendments/updates to the provider agreement as and when required.

    Following the release of the Statutory Guidance and our briefing sessions, we have some FAQ’s from both the DfE and from our Devon providers which we hope you will find useful.  We can’t cover every different scenario but hope it sets the options available to you if you are thinking about making changes to your model and/or your additional charges.

    DfE Charging – FAQs

    Provider FAQs for Chargeable Extras

    The DfE have advised that they will not be encouraging parents to opt-out of charges and we are not planning on publicising the changes to parents but you must continue to have options available.  Likewise, you do not need to highlight alternative options to parents and can simply say that you have reviewed your charging policies and have made changes to meet the Statutory Guidance requirements and if parents have any queries, to contact you to discuss.  The DFE are requesting that Chargeable Extra’s, are listed as hours, food, consumables and activities.  The DfE have a template that can be used to agree with parents the services they require and the charges.  To support providers we have drafted a template policy that can be used to set-out your offer along with other charges that may apply to funded or non-funded time.

    It is not a requirement that you use these templates but it is a requirement that all settings are open and transparent with your charges.  Your fees and charges should be published on your websites or social media pages.  We are looking at the Provider Self Update to see if the information can be held centrally and will update you further with our progress.

    Template – DfE Chargeable Extras

    Template – Devon Policy for Chargeable Extras

    Chargeable Extras and itemised invoicing need to be fully implemented by January 2026.  LA’s can exempt providers caring for 10 or fewer children but being transparent applies to all settings.  Pupil numbers fluctuate through the year, and we want to be consistent with all sectors. This is therefore a requirement of all funded providers in Devon.

    We know providers are being asked for detailed invoices for parents who are claiming childcare through their Universal Credit claims so if you have your own invoicing systems, you may want to make changes sooner.  If you are using software packages, it will take time for them to be updated.

    If you have an example of an invoice that has been queried by DWP for a Universal Credit claim and parents are happy for you to share their details, please email copy of invoice and any communications so that we can follow this up with our DWP contact.

    If you have any specific topics that you would like us to cover, please let us know and we will do our best to plan an appropriate session.

  • Training sessions, videos & presentations

    We will be running online sessions via Teams on how to complete your spring headcount tasks. The dates and times are shown below:

    Spring Headcount Online Training Sessions:

    Friday 9th January 2026 from 11.00am to 12.00 noon

    Monday 19th January 2026 from 6.30pm to 7.30pm

    There is no requirement to book a place, please just click on the relevant link to join a session.

    Videos:

    We have also produced some training videos to help with the completion of tasks:

    More videos will be added as they become available.

  • Registered email address for funding purposes

    If you change your email address, and this is also used for funding purposes i.e. provider portal, remittance etc. please email eyef@devon.gov.uk to advise and ask for this to be updated. If we have an incorrect email address you won’t receive conflict, audit emails, you may be missing out on important information regarding funding, and it will cause problems if you need to reset your provider portal password. 

    You may also need to register a new egress account for the new email in order to share sensitive and confidential information with us. Please visit Egress support for more information 

    Please could we also ask that funding information is shared with other staff/colleagues where relevant and appropriate.

  • Polylino EAL Resources

    The Early Years and Childcare service has a number of licences available for Polylino resources. 

    Polylino is a multilingual digital picture book service for early years providers. It provides nursery practitioners and managers with a multilingual digital library aligned with the EYFS  curriculum which can be used to support language and literacy development in the nursery and at home.  

    More information is available on YouTube or by visiting the website.  

    If this is something that would support EAL children in your setting, please sign up for the free trial on the Polylino website and if you would like to apply for licences, please complete the Polylino EAL resources for early years children application form

 


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