Can we get help paying for childcare?
Checks the two tests each parent must pass, and shows what Tax-Free Childcare and the free hours are worth to you each year.
Your answer
Answer the questions to see if you can get help with childcare, and what it's worth.
About this calculator
For parents in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, including company directors on a low salary. It checks whether each parent passes the two tests, what Tax-Free Childcare and the free hours are worth in a year, and what to change if you miss out. Free hours are worked out for England only.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
Each parent must expect to earn at least 16 hours a week at the minimum wage for their age over the next 3 months: £2,643.68 for someone aged 21 or over. Pay from a job and self-employed profit count; dividends don't. A business under 12 months old has no minimum, and a parent on sick pay or family leave passes. Neither parent can have income for the £100,000 test (adjusted net income) over £100,000.
If you pass, the government adds £2 for every £8 you pay for childcare, up to £2,000 a year for each child (£4,000 if disabled), until the September after they turn 11 (16 if disabled). In England, children from 9 months get up to 30 free hours a week for 38 weeks, from the term after they turn 9 months; every 3 and 4 year old gets 15 hours whatever their parents earn. The free hours stop when your child starts school.
Worked example
You could get about £8,440 a year of help with childcare: £1,600 as a top-up (Tax-Free Childcare) and free hours worth about £6,840, taken off your nursery bill.
England · one parent · bills after any free hours · a full year of hours
| You: the least to earn over the next 3 months (16 hours a week for 13 weeks at the minimum wage for your age) | £2,643.68 |
|---|---|
| You: pay and profit expected over the next 3 months | £7,500 |
| You: earnings test | Pass |
| You: income for the £100,000 test (income less pension and Gift Aid payments) | £30,000 |
| Child 1: top-up, 20% of a £8,000 bill | + £1,600 |
| Child 1: 1,140 free hours in a year × £6.00 an hour | + £6,840 |
| Help with childcare in a year | £8,440 |
Worked out using HMRC's published rates for the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027), on a yearly basis.
Questions people ask
Why does a company director on a low salary miss out?
Only salary counts towards the minimum, not dividends. A director paying themselves a small salary with the rest as dividends can fall short, even with a high income. We show the salary that would pass, but talk to us before changing it.
What if one of us earns over £100,000?
The top-up and the 30 hours stop for the whole family, not just that parent. A pension or Gift Aid payment lowers the income that's counted, and we show how much would bring it back under.
Can we have the top-up and Universal Credit childcare help?
No, you have to choose one. Free hours aren't affected.
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