Nursery funding and extra costs
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If you found a preschool it would cost less.
£400 sounds a bit steep with the funding also included 🤔 but each nursery is different and has different charging structures. Ours has 6 different session types to choose from with varying hours and they all include a charge for meals but you can choose to send packed meals in their bags and then don't have to pay for the food.
If it’s a private nursery then they charge on top of funding, but a nursery that’s part of like a primary school don’t usually charge extra and will accept funding as is. They will usually have a minimum amount of hours you have to do though. I was hoping to start my son off with just one or two mornings a week but to accept our funding I’m going to have to send him in every morning 5 days a week. Not ideal but better than paying for it!
The 15hrs funding is only term time, so at mine for example as it's open all year round (minus one week at Christmas) the 15hrs is spread out over the year. I send mine 2 days a week and pay around 350, depending on how the days fall within the month it can differ slightly. As others have said too nurseries can add on extra charges, as the amount they receive per hour from the government (for the funded hours) are less than what they would receive per hour from a parent. So to help cover overheads, staffing costs, food costs etc they add on extra
It’s stretched so it actually only works out 11 hours a week for us. My toddler goes 3 days a week and with the 15 hours funding I’m now paying £668 a month. They don’t charge any extras that’s just how much it costs in my area x
You can get an extra top up if you pay through the government account.
My daughter has just started with the 15 hours funding. I chose to do 12:00-1500 daily to get into a routine. So we pay for £1.20 per meal, she’s there for lunch time. She doesn’t have to have their food. She can take a packed lunch. But I prefer to do it this way. But that’s all the costs for me
I used to pay £300 or so a month for nursery with funding and my little one was there every Friday and maybe a few Mondays. She was under 2. As soon as she turned 2 and September started I now only pay for meals but she’s only in on Fridays now.It costs £20 a month now, HUGE difference!
My understanding of it is 15 hours gets stretched if its a full time nursery so only 11ish hours per week. Also they can only be used for the preschool hours 9-3. Some also charge for food etc.