The Childcare Grant: Money for Student Parents That You Never Repay

The Childcare Grant is the largest piece of non-repayable student support most people have never heard of. For a full-time student in England with two children in nursery, the weekly cap alone is worth more over an academic year than the entire Parents' Learning Allowance and Adult Dependants' Grant combined. It is not a loan, it is not a benefit, and it is claimed inside an application most student parents are already filling in.

It is also badly served online, for two reasons. The weekly maxima change by academic year, so half the pages you find quote a figure from a year that has passed. And the grant exists in four versions with four different sets of rules — England, Wales and Northern Ireland each run their own "Childcare Grant", and Scotland does not run one under that name at all. This page keeps them apart, and labels every figure with the academic year its own funding body published it against.

Start with the condition that disqualifies the most people, because it is not obvious from the name. In England the Childcare Grant is for full-time students. GOV.UK defines that precisely: you must be "in full-time higher education (studying 120 credits or more in a year on a single course)", and the grant is listed among the forms of extra help that are "full-time students only".^[source] A part-time student in England does not get it, however many children they have and however much childcare costs them. Wales takes a different view, which is covered further down.

GOV.UK sets out the full England test as a list of conditions, all of which must apply at once:

Two of those conditions are worth restating. The first is residence: "you're a permanent resident in England". That is a test of where you live, not where you study — the opposite of how some other schemes work — and it is why a Welsh or Northern Irish student on an English course applies to their own funding body instead.

The second is that you must already be in the household-income side of student finance: "you get student finance based on your household income (or are eligible for this)", and "You must be eligible for student finance to apply for a Childcare Grant." If you have never gone through the means test, there is nothing for the Childcare Grant to attach to. Our guide to how household income is assessed covers that process.

The grant is a percentage with a ceiling, not a flat award. GOV.UK puts it this way: "You can get 85% of your childcare costs or a fixed maximum amount, whichever is less." The Department for Education states the same rule in the form that matters for accuracy, because it names the academic year: for 2026 to 2027 the grant is "based on 85% of actual childcare costs subject to a maximum grant of £199.62 per week for 1 child only or £342.24 per week for 2 or more children".^[source]

The England figures are identical for 2025/26 and 2026/27, and that is not a transcription error. The DfE states that for 2026/27 "the following maximum grants remain at the same levels that applied for the 2025 to 2026 academic year", listing the maximum means-tested grants for students with child dependants among them. The Maintenance Loan rose by 2.71% for 2026/27; the dependants' grants did not rise at all.

England figures: DfE and GOV.UK.^[source] Wales figures: Student Finance Wales, which publishes both years side by side.^[source] Northern Ireland figures: Student Finance NI, likewise.^[source] Scotland is not in this table, and the reason is set out below.

GOV.UK gives two worked examples for England that are worth reading, because they show the two different ways the calculation can bite. If your childcare for one child costs £100 a week, "you'll get £85 - this is 85% of your costs. You'll have to pay the remaining £15 a week." If it costs £250 a week, "you'll get £199.62. You'll have to pay the remaining £50.38. This is because 85% of your costs is £212.50, which is above the maximum weekly amount."^[source]

In other words there is always a shortfall. Below the cap you pay 15%; above it you pay everything over the cap as well. GOV.UK states the consequence plainly: "You'll have to pay any remaining childcare costs." Budget for the gap rather than assuming the grant covers the bill.

How much of the maximum you actually get depends on the means test. GOV.UK says the amount "depends on your household income" and "the number of children who are dependent on you", and the eligibility section sets hard income ceilings above which you get nothing at all.

This is the part student parents most often get wrong, usually by assuming that anything that arrives through Student Finance England is borrowed. GOV.UK is unambiguous. The Childcare Grant "does not have to be paid back" and "is paid on top of your other student finance".^[source] Student Finance NI uses almost the same words: "No - Childcare grants do not need to be repaid, unless you're overpaid or leave your course early."^[source]

Practically, that means the grant never enters the balance your employer deducts against once you graduate. Student loan repayments are worked out from your income, not your balance: 9% of everything you earn above the threshold for your plan, and nothing at all below it.^[source] The thresholds are £25,000 on Plan 5, £29,385 on Plan 2, £33,795 on Plan 4 and £26,900 on Plan 1, with write-off after 40, 30, 30 and 25 years respectively. Taking the Childcare Grant changes none of those numbers. It simply means the childcare was paid for with money you do not owe.

There is one genuine repayment risk, and it is not about your loan. GOV.UK warns: "You may have to pay back any money you are overpaid because of a change in your circumstances or course." If your childcare costs fall, your course intensity changes, or you withdraw, tell your funding body immediately. An overpayment recovered a year later is a real debt, and it lands on a household that by definition has little slack.

This is the interaction that costs student parents money, in both directions: people claim the wrong one, and people assume they cannot claim anything and claim nothing. The rule itself is simple. The judgement about which scheme suits you is not, and this page does not make it for you.

GOV.UK lists as a Childcare Grant eligibility condition that "neither you or your partner are claiming Tax-Free Childcare, the childcare element of working Tax Credit or Universal Credit".^[source] The block runs the other way too: among the situations in which you cannot claim Tax-Free Childcare, GOV.UK lists "you or your partner get a childcare bursary or grant".^[source] And the two non-student schemes exclude each other as well: "You cannot get tax-free childcare if you are on Universal Credit."^[source]

So these are three alternatives, not three additions. Note the wording carefully: it is the childcare element of Universal Credit that conflicts, not Universal Credit as such. Full-time students can sometimes claim Universal Credit — GOV.UK lists being "responsible for a child" as one of the exceptions to the usual rule that full-time students cannot get it.^[source]

Two further facts are worth knowing before anyone tries to work out which way round is better, and both come straight from GOV.UK.

• The Universal Credit childcare element requires work. "You need to be either: in paid work; starting a job in the next month", and "If you live with a partner, you both need to be in paid work, unless your partner cannot look after your children." Studying is not work for this purpose. The Childcare Grant carries no such condition.^[source]
• The two caps are not measured over the same period, so they cannot be compared as printed. The Universal Credit childcare maxima are "for each assessment period", which is a month: "£1,071.09 for one child" and "£1,836.16 for 2 or more children". The Childcare Grant maxima are weekly. Anyone comparing £342.24 with £1,836.16 as though they were like for like will reach the wrong answer.
• Your Maintenance Loan is treated as income for Universal Credit, whether or not you take it. "For every £1 you're entitled to get from a maintenance loan, your Universal Credit will be reduced by £1", with the first £110 of student income ignored in each assessment period. With a maximum loan of £10,830 for a student living away from home outside London in 2026/27, that is a substantial offset. Special Support Loan or Grant is the exception: "If you receive a Special Support Loan or Grant, this will not be taken off your Universal Credit."^[source]

There is one more exclusion that catches healthcare students in particular. GOV.UK requires that "neither you or your partner receive help with childcare costs from the NHS". If you are on an NHS-funded course, the childcare support that comes with it displaces the Childcare Grant — see our guide to the NHS Learning Support Fund for what that support is.

Finally, a small one that surprises people: the Childcare Grant is not the free hours scheme. GOV.UK states that "A Childcare Grant is different to 15 or 30 hours free childcare. You cannot use it to pay for those hours." The free hours are separate, and having them does not disqualify you.

The grant only pays for registered childcare, and "registered" has a specific legal meaning that differs by nation. It is not a judgement about quality — it is a question of which statutory register your provider appears on.

• England. GOV.UK requires that "your childcare provider is on the Ofsted Early Years Register or General Childcare Register", and adds: "check with your provider".^[source]
• Wales. Student Finance Wales requires that you "are using a childcare provider registered by Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW)", and separately excludes anyone who is "paying a relative to care for your child only".^[source]
• Northern Ireland. Student Finance NI states only that "This must be approved registered childcare. Not all childcare can qualify." and does not name a register on the page read for this guide.^[source]

The practical rule is the same everywhere: confirm registration before you commit to a provider, not after. A nursery that is not on the right register is not a nursery the grant can pay, and by the time your application is assessed you may already have signed a contract. Ask the provider for their registration number and check it with the regulator.

England's nanny exclusion from 1 August 2026 sits inside this rule. A nanny you employ in your own home is now outside the scheme regardless of any registration they hold, and GOV.UK confirms this applies to "both new and returning students".

In England you do not make a separate Childcare Grant application. GOV.UK sets out four steps: "Apply online as part of your main student finance application"; "Send in evidence. You'll be told what evidence you need to provide when you apply"; "You'll get a letter telling you if your application was successful and how much you'll get"; and "Set up an online Childcare Grant Payment Service (CCGPS) account. You'll get an email inviting you to do this within 10 days of the letter."^[source]

If you have already submitted your student finance application without claiming, or you want to add another child, there is a paper route. GOV.UK says to use a paper form if you "have already applied for student finance but did not apply for a Childcare Grant at the same time" or "want to apply for another child". The form is the Application for Dependants' Grants, published in separate 2026/27 and 2025/26 versions, and it covers the Childcare Grant, Parents' Learning Allowance and Adult Dependants' Grant together.^[source] It can be sent through your student finance account or posted to Student Finance England, PO Box 210, Darlington, DL1 9HJ.

The "childcare grant login" is a different login

This is the single most searched-for thing about the Childcare Grant, and the answer is genuinely confusing, so it is worth being exact. You will end up with two accounts, and they are not the same:

• Your student finance account. This is where you apply, upload evidence and see your entitlement. It is the account you already have if you have applied for a loan.^[source]
• Your Childcare Grant Payment Service account. A separate account, on a separate service, with separate sign-in details. GOV.UK: "Your grant will be paid into an online Childcare Grant Payment Service (CCGPS) account."^[source] The service is administered by Wider Plan on behalf of Student Finance England.^[source]

You do not go looking for the CCGPS account — it comes to you. The invitation arrives by email within ten days of your entitlement letter, and GOV.UK is clear about the returning-student case as well: "If you already have a CCGPS account, you just need to login to see your balance for the new academic year." The same account carries forward. GOV.UK publishes a registration address for providers at www.ccgpay.co.uk/childcare-provider/login, but it publishes no separate student sign-in address, so if you cannot find your invitation email, contact Student Finance England rather than trusting a link from a search result.^[source]

How the money actually moves

In England the grant never reaches your bank account. GOV.UK describes the cycle: "Your childcare provider will send requests for payment to the CCGPS, which you can approve through your account. You'll usually need to do this every week. Your provider will be paid directly from the money in your account."^[source]

Three consequences follow, and all three catch people out:

• Your provider has to be registered with the CCGPS too. GOV.UK tells providers: "We can only start making payments to you once you've registered with the CCGPS. If you don't register then we can't make any Childcare Grant payments." Raise this with your nursery early.
• You cannot pay deposits or anything upfront. "You can only approve payments to your childcare provider once your course has started. You cannot use the Childcare Grant to pay for upfront costs such as deposits." The deposit a nursery asks for in August is money you have to find yourself.
• Unspent money goes back. "Any money that's left over at the end of the academic year will be returned to Student Finance England." It is not a pot you can carry over or spend elsewhere.

The approval step is weekly, which means the Childcare Grant is one of the few pieces of student funding that needs your attention during term rather than just at application time. If you stop approving, your provider stops being paid.

Anyone eligible for the Childcare Grant is often eligible for one or both of these, and they are claimed on the same form. All three are non-repayable and all three are full-time only in England. They behave differently on one important point, which is why they are set out separately here rather than lumped together.

Parents' Learning Allowance — up to £2,024 in 2026/27

This one is for your own study costs, not your childcare bill. GOV.UK: "Depending on your household income, you could get between £50 and £2,024 for each year of your course", and the DfE confirms the same maximum specifically for the 2026 to 2027 academic year.^[source] The income ceiling is tighter than the Childcare Grant's: you are eligible if "your household income is less than £18,957.99 a year".^[source]

Two things make it worth claiming even if your childcare application fails. GOV.UK states that "You do not need to be paying for childcare to be eligible", and that the allowance "will not affect your benefits or tax credit". It is paid into your bank account in up to three instalments a year.

Adult Dependants' Grant — up to £3,545 in 2026/27

This is for an adult who depends on you financially, not a child. GOV.UK: "The maximum Adult Dependants' Grant is £3,545", again confirmed for 2026/27 by the DfE. You are not eligible if "your household income (your own taxable income plus that of anyone else living in your household) is over £15,835.98", and the dependant cannot be your child, cannot be getting student finance, and cannot be "a relative who earns more than £3,796 a year".^[source]

One recent change: "If your course starts on or after 1 August 2026, the adult who depends on you must live in the UK. If they only live in the UK for part of the year, they'll get less than if they lived there full time." Neither grant is available at all if you are getting a Postgraduate Loan.

Everything above this heading is the England scheme. Which body funds you is settled by where you normally live, not where you study, so a student from Cardiff at an English university applies to Student Finance Wales. GOV.UK confirms the split: "There's a different process if you're a student from Scotland, a student from Wales, a student from Northern Ireland."^[source]

Wales

Wales runs its own Childcare Grant, and it differs from England's in a way that matters to a lot of people: it is not full-time only. Student Finance Wales funds students "attending a full-time or part-time course (including a distance learning course)", adding that "If you're a part-time student, you will be assessed for a reduced amount of CCG based on your study intensity."^[source]

For 2026/27 the maxima are 85% of costs up to "£196 per week for 1 dependent child" or "£335 per week for 2 or more dependent children". Wales also has a rule England does not: if you apply before you have chosen a provider you still get funded, but "this will be capped at £150 per week or 85% of actual costs, whichever is lower" until you supply the provider's details. The exclusions are close to England's but not identical — Student Finance Wales blocks you if you "claim the childcare element of Universal Credit or Working Tax Credit", "get tax-free childcare from HM Revenue and Customs", "are paying a relative to care for your child only", or if you or your partner are "receiving funding from the NHS". Crucially, there is no CCGPS in Wales: "We'll pay your money into your bank account, usually 3 times a year at the start of each term", and you and your provider must confirm your costs three times a year.

Northern Ireland

Student Finance NI runs a Childcare Grant with its own, lower caps. Its published table gives the same figures for both years: for 2026/27 and 2025/26 alike, "up to £148.75 a week" for one child and "up to £255.00 a week" for two or more.^[source] As in Wales there is an interim rate before you confirm a provider: your first payment will be "up to a maximum of £115.00 a week or 85% of your estimate (whichever is less)".

Payment works as it does in Wales, not as it does in England: "A Childcare Grant is paid directly to you, not your childcare provider, so you'll need a UK bank or building society account in your own name", in payments made "three times a year, normally around the start of each term". You are then responsible for paying the provider.^[source] Note also that Student Finance NI's published exclusion list names only two things — "an NHS BHS Childcare Allowance" and "the childcare element of Universal Credit" — and does not mention Tax-Free Childcare. Do not assume England's longer list applies; ask Student Finance NI.^[source] There is also an explicit deadline: "The final deadline for applying is 9 months after the first day of your academic year."

Scotland

Scotland does not sit in the table above, and we would rather say why than fill the row with a guess. What is certain is that the scheme described on this page does not reach Scottish-domiciled students: GOV.UK requires that "you're a permanent resident in England" for the Childcare Grant.^[source] Students who normally live in Scotland are funded by the Student Awards Agency Scotland, which publishes its own support for students with children.^[source]

What we could not do is read SAAS's figures. The SAAS website builds its pages in the browser and returned no readable text to any of the tools used to verify this page on 20 September 2026, so rather than reproduce an amount from memory or from a second-hand summary, there is no Scottish figure here at all. Go to SAAS directly, or ask your university's student funding team.

On a page about eligibility, a wrong number is worse than a missing one. Where an official source did not state something, we have not supplied it. These are the gaps, and where to close them:

• Every Scottish amount. SAAS's pages would not render to text for us on 20 September 2026. We have named SAAS and linked its parents and carers funding page, and stated no Scottish figure. Ask SAAS or your university funding team.
• Any 2027/28 figure, for any nation. Not published as at 20 September 2026. The DfE states that "The government will confirm changes for the 2027 to 2028 academic year in autumn 2026".^[source] Do not assume the 2026/27 caps carry over, even though England's did this year.
• A student sign-in address for the CCGPS. GOV.UK publishes a registration link for childcare providers and none for students, because students are invited by email. We have not invented one, and you should not trust a page that has.
• An academic year for England's two household income ceilings. GOV.UK gives £20,107.23 and £28,914.47 without labelling a year, unlike the weekly maxima, which the DfE labels explicitly. They are reproduced as published and attributed to the date we read them.
• Whether Northern Ireland funds part-time students' childcare. The Student Finance NI pages read for this guide were the full-time section. Ask your local Student Finance NI office.
• Whether the Childcare Grant counts as income in the Student Finance England household income assessment. GOV.UK answers the benefits question, which is a different question, and we have quoted it only as the benefits answer.