Blog: How to access Government childcare support early

Working parents can access 15 free hours of childcare per week and tax free childcare worth up to £2,000 a year. But you have to be 31 days (or less) away from returning to work after maternity leave to be eligible.

But there’s a way to access these schemes several weeks before this.

The secret is annual leave – but there is a big caveat to be mindful of.

The big chunk of annual leave you have accrued while being on maternity leave – which could be as much as 7 or 8 weeks – can be added to the end of your maternity leave. You’re then classed as being back at work, even though you haven’t actually returned, and eligible for these schemes as long as baby is 9 months old.

So what's the caveat? You can’t work KIT days while on annual leave. So if you want to work KIT days in the weeks before returning to work – then this wont work for you.

So three things to remember:

-          You become eligible for these schemes a month before returning to work but you can extend this by several weeks tagging annual leave on to the end of your maternity leave

-          Baby becomes eligible the term after they turn 9 months old

-          But remember - you can’t work KIT days while on annual leave

What do you think? Would you try this?

Example of this:

• Baby is born on 30th November 2024 (maternity leave began 25th November)

• Baby will be 9 months old on 30th August 2025 - so eligible for these schemes from September 2025 (the start of the next term)

• Mum decides to take 11 months (48 weeks) maternity leave (until end of Oct), plus 7 weeks of annual leave tagged on to the end, so she is due back to work mid-December 2025.

• Free childcare hours and tax free hours can be accessed from end of September 2025 - when baby is 10 months old - and more than two months before mum is back at work