Nursery Funding

My youngest DD is in the same situation, receiving the 30 hours a week free childcare. I agree that the application system is a nightmare and she had a lot of difficulties getting the code to input, but as to the how much is covered financially, the advice on the Government website states quite clearly that:

"What you'll get
If your child is aged 9 months to 4 years old
You can get 30 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks of the year." The website also mentions the extra payments to be made by parents for food, nappies etc.

So 14 weeks need to be funded by the parents.

I too am surprised that the nursery has let it get to the stage of a big bill all at once. My daughter's nursery told her exactly what she would be paying per month after the 30 free hours had been applied to her costs. They also charge per four weeks, so there wasn't a big surprise bill after a full term.

Additional cost for a month is over£400!

I am puzzled as to why the nursery let the amount owed build up so much? Surely it would make sense to issue invoices on a monthly/4 weekly basis?

Plus £17 per day for food and drinks!
Didn’t make a lot of difference for my DDs, but they just had to accept it for the short term.
As you say, you could help fund it?

Yes, this is correct - term time only.
My youngest DD is very grateful for this, as it covers a significant percentage of the nursery costs, meaning that her salary adds to the family finances, rather than going almost entirely on childcare.

Basically only term time support. I know some Nurseries might tweak the hours for you, spread them over the week. However, it's a business and they have to cover any cost beyond the Government funding.
My DS and DIL who are not local to us were paying about £1200 a month until recently for childcare and after school clubs for my 2 GD's. Youngest GD has just started school so they will save a considerable amount.

Two of my kids in one camp two in the other. To be honest I haven't heard the two older ones comment on it so I don't know what they think although as their children are older, university costs now, it was probably cheaper then than it is now.

I can only think how the families who have paid 10’s of thousands over the years for childcare think .
However that is a separate issue.
The government will not be paying anything like the rate parents paid per hour previously so the Nurseries will be raising the fees on the hours they can charge for, to be able to carry on.
Expect to see some closures in the future.

Unlikely not likely.

V3ra is correct about the tax free childcare payments which makes it all the more likely that this would mean her giving up work.

Surely paying for 7.65 hrs at nursery isn't going to force her to give up her job? Working three full days a week has to bring in more than the nursery fees.

The government, both previous and current, have always been very naughty about how they advertise this offer.

The autumn funding period runs from 1st September to 31st December, 17 1/2 weeks.

However for a child needing the full 30 hours a week the government only fund for 14 weeks between those dates.
If a child has a "stretched" offer the government funding is paid over 16 weeks, but pro-rata and not for 30 hours a week.

It sounds like this is what your daughter has been misled/ confused by, hence the bill for the extra hours required ☹️

The nursery is at fault for not making sure she understood exactly what she'd be funded for and what she'd need to pay herself.
She needs to read her contract carefully.

If it's any consolation she can pay the amount due using a Tax Free Childcare account, via Government Gateway.
That will give her a contribution towards her bill.