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School-age childcare guidance for school and local authorities

Guidance for schools and local authorities responsible for securing sufficient childcare for school-aged children.

Updates to this page

From:
Department for Education
Published:
17 December 2025
Last updated:
15 April 2026
Show all updates

  1. Updated to offer advice to schools and academy trusts on maintaining wraparound school-age childcare following the conclusion of the National Wraparound Childcare Programme on 31 March 2026.

  2. Replaced 'Local authority capacity support funding' with 'School-age childcare sufficiency funding (including local authority capacity funding 2026 to 2027)'.

  3. First published.

School-age childcare

Guidance on local authority capacity funding to secure and maintain an effective local school-age childcare system and the role of schools and trusts in delivering school-age childcare provision.

Free breakfast clubs

Guidance on setting up and running free breakfast clubs, including specific guidance for schools joining phase 1 of the national rollout from April 2026.

Holiday activities and food

Guidance and grant determination letter for local authorities delivering the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme, including changes for the 2026 to 2027 financial year.

Allocations

Local authority funding allocations for the 2026 to 2027 financial year for holiday activities and food (HAF) and local authority capacity funding, and historic grant determination letters for the HAF programme.

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