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Guidance

Early years entitlements for foster children and NRPF families

Entitlements to 30 hours childcare for children in foster care and early learning for 2-year-olds for families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF).

Updates to this page

From:
Department for Education
Published:
21 April 2017
Last updated:
7 July 2026
Show all updates

  1. Updated the '30 hours childcare for children aged 9 months and older in foster care' guidance and application form template to reflect changes to entitlement names and the rollout dates of the working parents entitlement. Updated the 'Early learning for 2-year-olds of families with no recourse to public funds' guidance and application form template to provide greater clarity for local authorities on how to assess eligibility and reflect changes to Home Office immigration rules.

  2. We have updated '30 hours free childcare for foster children aged 9 months and above' to clarify the position for 2 year olds meeting the eligibility criteria for both entitlements. We have removed 'Early education and childcare: operational guidance'.

  3. Added guidance document: '30 hours free childcare for foster children aged 9 months and above'.

  4. '30 hours free childcare for foster children: application form template for local authorities' has been updated to align with policy changes, such as widening the age range to include children from 9 months to 4 years old.

  5. The guidance 'In effect from September 2022 - Free early education for 2-year-olds from families with no recourse to public funds' and 'Application form for free early education for two-year-olds from families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF)' have been added.

  6. Updated the links to the specification for a level 3 SEND qualification, level 3 SENCO job description and free SEND resources on page 35 of the operational guidance.

  7. Updated guidance and added application form.

  8. Updated guidance following feedback from the sector: text reordered and clarified throughout.

  9. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

30 hours childcare for children aged 9 months and older in foster care: assessing eligibility

HTML

30 hours childcare for children aged 9 months or older in foster care: application form template

MS Word Document, 71.8 KB

Early learning for 2-year-olds for families with no recourse to public funds: assessing eligibility

HTML

Early learning for 2-year-olds for families with no recourse to public funds: application form template

MS Word Document, 66.7 KB

Details

This guidance is for local authorities.

The ‘30 hours childcare for children aged 9 months and older in foster care: assessing eligibility’ guidance explains how local authorities must meet their statutory responsibilities to the children of eligible working foster parents.

The ‘Early learning for 2-year-olds of families with no recourse to public funds: assessing eligibility’ guidance explains how local authorities can verify whether a parent or carer is eligible for an early education place for their child.

We have provided an application form template for each of these circumstances. Having inserted their own contact details and any additional information, local authorities can provide the relevant form to parents or carers who wish to apply.

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