Nursery Cost Calculator UK 2025

From September 2025, 30 hours of free childcare per week (term time) will be available to eligible working parents of children aged 9 months to school age. Eligibility begins the term after your child turns the qualifying age. For 3 and 4 year olds: 15 universal hours from the term after their third birthday; 30 hours if both parents are working. You apply via the government’s childcare service at childcare.gov.uk. Codes must be renewed every 3 months.

Yes — free hours can be used with any Ofsted-registered childcare provider including nurseries, pre-schools, childminders and some nannies who are registered with a childcare agency. The provider must be registered to accept the funding. Childminders can sometimes offer more flexible hours and may be cheaper per hour than nurseries, particularly outside major cities.

While nurseries cannot charge top-up fees on the funded hours themselves, they can charge separately for meals, nappies, sun cream, trips, and additional services. Some nurseries also charge a higher hourly rate for private hours beyond the free allocation. Always ask for a complete fee schedule including all additional charges before enrolling — the headline hourly rate rarely tells the full story.

Tax-Free Childcare can be used on top of free hours to cover the remaining costs. You open an online account, pay money in, the government adds 20% (up to £2,000 per year per child), and you use the total to pay your nursery. It applies to the costs you actually pay — not the free hours allocation. You cannot use Tax-Free Childcare and employer childcare vouchers at the same time. Apply at childcare.gov.uk.

This is one of the most common questions parents ask and the answer is highly individual. For many families, full-time nursery costs eat a significant proportion of one parent’s take-home pay — sometimes more than the salary itself after tax and NI. However, the financial calculation must also account for: career continuity and future earning potential, pension contributions, the non-financial value of adult time, and the fact that costs reduce significantly once free hours kick in. Use our maternity pay calculator and baby budget calculator together for a fuller picture.