Fees & funding

The Preschool is a registered charity and therefore all income received from either fees or funding is retained to cover rent and staff wages, replace equipment and update resources.

Fee Rates  

  • 2-year olds - £19.50 per half day and £39.00 per full day over and above any free entitlement.
  • 3 & 4-year olds - £18.00 per half day and £36.00 per full day over and above any free entitlement. 
  • 3 & 4-year olds - £1.50 'Fair Funding and Consumables' supplement (funded children excluding those eligible for EYPP).

Nursery Education Grant

15 Hours Funding (Universal Entitlement)

All three and four-year-olds are entitled to 15 hours of funded early years education per week over a 38-week school year, until they either go into reception class or reach compulsory school age (the term following their fifth birthday). This free entitlement is paid from the term after your child turns three and is paid directly to the Preschool by Cambridgeshire County Council. To see when your child is eligible please refer to the cut-off dates below:

Children born on or between Eligible for funding from
1 January – 31 March Summer Term (from April)
1 April – 31 August Autumn Term (from September)
1 September – 31 December Spring Term (from January)

30  Hours Funding (Extended Entitlement)

In addition to the universal scheme, the Government has extended the funded childcare entitlement for working parents who qualify, to 30-hours per week. To find out if you are eligible, please use the following calculator: https://www.gov.uk/childcare-calculator.

 We currently offer 3 spaces where parents can take up to the full 30 funded hours with the Preschool, and they are offered on a first come, first served basis. When these 3 spaces are filled, we are only able to offer a maximum of 18 funded hours per week at the setting for any remaining families who are eligible for these extra hours.

 We work in co-operation with other childcare providers to support parents in obtaining their full funded entitlement, and parents are free to use their funding across multiple settings.

 To apply for these additional hours, you will need to provide us with an eligibility code provided by the HMRC. To obtain this, you will need to complete the following online application form: https://childcare-support.tax.service.gov.uk/ and will have to re-validate your claim every 3 months.

We also accept ‘Funded Twos’. If your child has just turned two, you may be entitled to free early learning and childcare for the next school term. For more information on the scheme and eligibility criteria click here: www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/free2s 

Fair Funding & Consumables Supplement

Duxford Preschool is a registered charity and we operate as a ‘not for profit’ organisation, reinvesting all our income into the running of the Preschool. Most of the children attending the Preschool are ‘funded children’, in receipt of the 15/30 hours of free education. Whilst the funding from the government means parents and carers are supported with their childcare needs, unfortunately the amount the setting receives per hour, per child, doesn’t cover our costs.  We only receive £4.37 per hour for a 3 or 4-year-old, but it costs us around £5.50 per hour for every childcare place. The funding is also not intended to cover any snacks, consumables or additional activities. This partial funding seriously affects our sustainability, and we are keen to ensure that this does not result in our compromising of the standard of care and education that we currently offer.

We therefore introduced a 50p per hour ‘fair funding and consumables supplement’ for all children attending the Preschool for the government funded hours. We continue to allow parents the flexibility to use their funded hours however they choose across the week, with no restrictions on when or how you can access the funded hours.

Please note that is not compulsory to pay this fee but we hope that our families understand the reason behind its introduction, and your support that will ensure we can maintain the high standards that our fantastic team at the Preschool set and we all enjoy.

If parents prefer not to pay, then we ask you to let us know so we can advise how you can support the Preschool in other ways. 

Childcare Vouchers

Childcare vouchers are a Government initiative that allows parents to save on their registered childcare costs. Parents exchange a part of their salary through their employer and receive the same amount in childcare vouchers. This reduces the amount of tax and National Insurance that are payable. Duxford Preschool currently has childcare vouchers accounts set up with the following providers:

Voucher Provider Account or Reference Number
Computershare 51380133
Edenred P20628680
Kiddivouchers 500863
Care 4 15801135
Sodexo 207157
Co-operative 85110125
Allsave -

If you would like to pay for your childcare via a voucher provider not listed above, please email businessmanager@duxfordpreschool.org.uk and we can arrange this for you.