Childcare cost calculator
Your monthly nursery bill is the hours you book in a year, minus any funded hours (1,140 a year for 30 hours, 570 for 15), times the hourly rate, divided into 12 payments. Choose your area to start from the typical local day rate, or type in the rate your nursery quotes.
You pay
£1,175 a month
With 30 funded hours a week. Full price £2,125 a month.
- You pay£1,175
- Funded hours£950
- Government top-up£0
Under-2s get funded hours only through the working-parent scheme, from the term after they turn 9 months. Add a birth month to see when.
The working
- Day rate
- £100 for 10 hours = £10 an hour
- Hours booked a year
- 5 days × 10 hours × 51 weeks = 2,550 hours
- Funded hours a year
- 30 hours × 38 weeks = 1,140 hours
- Hours you pay for
- 2,550 hours − 1,140 hours = 1,410 hours
- Fees a year
- 1,410 hours × £100 ÷ 10 hours = £14,100
- A month
- £14,100 ÷ 12 = £1,175
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When does it get cheaper?
Your monthly bill from birth to school, as each stage of funding starts.
Optional. Or the month your baby is due. Only used on this page.
Add your child's birth month to see how the bill changes until school.
Funding rules for 2026–27, checked 11 November 2026. Prices stay at today's figures. Your nursery's own prices may change with your child's age.
Next steps
Assumptions
- Funded hours (30 a week for working parents, 15 for every 3 and 4-year-old) are for 38 weeks a year (1,140 or 570 hours) and are taken off the hours you book across the year, as most all-year nurseries do when they stretch funding.
- "We work" means both parents work (or you, if you're single), each earning at least the minimum wage for 16 hours a week, and neither expects over £100,000. The funded hours checker covers the exceptions.
- Fees are spread evenly over 12 monthly payments. Some nurseries invoice by calendar month or term instead.
- Extras per day (meals, nappies, trips) are added for every day you book. Ask your nursery how it charges them.
- Tax-Free Childcare pays 20% of the bill (£2 for every £8 you pay in), up to £500 every 3 months for one child. You cannot use it with Universal Credit.
- The chart uses today's fees and this year's funding rules for every month, and the start-date rules of the funded hours start date tool: hours start the term after the qualifying age.
- Funded hours are paid for by government through the council: Hackney council is paid £8.50 an hour for 3 and 4-year-olds (2026–27).
Questions parents ask
How much does nursery cost a month?
It depends on the day rate, how many days you book and your funded hours. Five days at £100 a day for 51 weeks is £2,125 a month before funding; with 30 funded hours a week (1,140 hours a year) it falls to about £1,175.
When does nursery get cheaper?
When funded hours start: working parents get 30 hours a week from the term after their child turns 9 months, and every child gets 15 hours from the term after they turn 3. Terms start on 1 January, 1 April and 1 September. Add a birth month to the calculator to see your own dates.
Are funded hours really free?
The funded hours themselves are free, but nurseries can charge for meals, nappies, trips and other extras, as long as they are optional or there is an alternative such as bringing your own food. Ask for the charge per funded hour or day.
Why does my nursery charge for 51 weeks when funding is 38?
All-year nurseries usually spread your 38 weeks of funded hours across the year, so you get fewer funded hours each week but every week. The total is the same.
Can I use Tax-Free Childcare on the rest of the bill?
Yes, if you are eligible. It adds £2 for every £8 you pay, up to £500 every 3 months per child, and you can use it alongside funded hours. You cannot use it while claiming Universal Credit.
Sources
- Free Childcare for Working Parents: eligibility checked 11 November 2026
- 15 hours for 3 and 4-year-olds checked 11 November 2026
- Tax-Free Childcare checked 11 November 2026
- When funded hours start checked 11 November 2026
- England fee figure checked 11 November 2026
By The Toddly editorial team · Rules checked 11 November 2026