Early years pupil premium provider information

A child will be eligible for EYPP if the child receives either:

• the universal 15 hours entitlement for three and four-year-olds, or
• the 15 hours entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds, or
• from April 2024, the 15 hours entitlement for children aged two years of working parents, or
• from September 2024, the 15 hours entitlement for children aged nine months to two-years-old of working parents

The premium can be claimed by a childcare provider if a child at their setting is accessing free early education for two, three and four year olds and the child's parent or carer receives one of the following benefits:

• Income support
• Income based jobseekers allowance
• Income related employment and support allowance
• Support under part VI of the immigration and asylum act 1999
• The guaranteed element of state pension credit
• Child tax credit (provided they are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190 (please note you must not be claiming working tax credit)
• Working tax credit run-on (which is paid for four weeks after a family stops qualifying for working tax credit)
• Universal credit (household income must be less than £7,400 a year after tax, not including any benefits - this is assessed on up to three of the parent’s most recent universal credit assessment periods).

Or the child is in one of the following groups:

• They are currently being Looked after by the local authority in England or Wales

They have left care in England and Wales through:

• An adoption order
• a special guardianship order
• a child arrangement order 

Early years providers are ultimately responsible for identifying eligible children, so that local authorities can provide the appropriate funding. Providers should help identify children who may be eligible for EYPP funding and especially so to families who are in receipt of some additional government funding whose children qualify for two year old funding as many of these children will attract EYPP.

All registered early years PVI providers that take children for the funded early education entitlement will be eligible to claim the EYPP for two, three and four year olds. Academy nurseries and maintained nursery schools are also eligible to claim.

Providers must submit data on parents/carers, including their name, date of birth and National Insurance or NASS number for a check to be done. We will check eligibility after each actual headcount task. Once the children are checked and eligible, they remain eligible for 12 months, which means that any further checks completed in the following terms will capture any late starters and/or new children.

This data is submitted via the Capita Provider Headcount Portal. The parents should be informed that any personal details they provide will be used for the purpose of checking eligibility. Data can initially be gathered via your parental agreement form.

From April 2024, EYPP is paid at a national rate of 68 pence for every free early education hour that an eligible child attends their setting. We pass on the full rate to providers. Please see the following table for examples of monies paid to number of eligible children who are attending their full 15 hours of free early education a week.

The EYPP is paid alongside existing funding for the two, three and four year old funding entitlement. Children do not need to access the full entitlement to be eligible for the early years pupil premium; providers will be paid on a pro rata basis.

From September 2024 children aged nine months to two-years-old of working parents may also qualify (criteria above applies).

With the EYPP becoming more embedded throughout early years there is much to consider for all settings to make the best possible use of EYPP and demonstrate the impact it will have.

The Department for Education has indicated that early year's providers can choose how they wish to spend the premium but it must be based on the needs of the eligible children at your setting. Settings should use evidence about what works when making a decision and it must raise the quality of their early education offer. The main accountability for the use of EYPP will be through Ofsted inspections. Help with planning for the use of EYPP monies has been developed by Early Education Association.