Nursery fees are almost never what they first look like. A provider quotes an hourly rate, but what actually leaves your account each month depends on how many of your child’s hours are funded by the government, whether your nursery adds a top-up fee on top of those funded hours, how much meals and consumables come to, and whether you’re claiming Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit instead. Two families paying the same hourly rate, for the same number of hours, can end up with genuinely different monthly bills once all of that is layered in.
Free childcare hours have also changed a lot recently, and differently depending on where in the UK you live. England’s funded hours expanded significantly between 2025 and 2026, Scotland and Wales run their own separate schemes with different ages and weekly entitlements, and Northern Ireland doesn’t run a universal free hours scheme at all. Working out what actually applies to your child, at their specific age, in your specific nation, is genuinely fiddly.
This calculator does the full sum for you. Enter your nursery’s rate, your child’s age, your working status and where in the UK you live, and it works out your real net cost per month, per year, and an estimate of the total cost until your child starts school.
Who Is This Calculator For?
- Any parent trying to work out what nursery will actually cost once free hours and government support are applied, rather than just looking at the headline hourly rate a nursery quotes
- Anyone choosing between Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit who wants to see which one is worth more in their specific circumstances, since you can only claim one of the two
- Parents comparing two or more nurseries with different hourly rates, top-up fees, or meal charges, where the advertised price alone doesn’t tell the full story
- Anyone with a second child about to start childcare, who wants to see the combined household cost and how the Universal Credit two-child cap affects the total
- Parents trying to plan ahead financially, who want a realistic estimate of what childcare will cost in total between now and when their child starts school
- Anyone confused by how funded hours actually work, including why a nursery can still charge something even during “free” hours
Who Is This Calculator Not Suitable For?
- Anyone needing an exact, individually assessed entitlement. Funded hours and benefit rules depend on precise income, working hours, and personal circumstances that this calculator simplifies for illustration. For your exact entitlement, childcarechoices.gov.uk (or mygov.scot, or the Welsh and Northern Irish equivalents) is the accurate source, and your local council or nursery can confirm exactly what applies to your child.
- Anyone in Northern Ireland looking for a free hours comparison. Northern Ireland does not currently run a universal free childcare hours scheme in the way England, Scotland and Wales do, so this calculator’s free hours section will correctly show very little or nothing for NI. The Childcare Subsidy Scheme is the relevant support to look into instead, and isn’t modelled here.
- Anyone looking for personalised benefits or tax advice. The Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit figures here are estimates based on the standard published rules, not a personalised assessment of your full benefit entitlement, which can be affected by other income, savings, and circumstances. gov.uk and your local Universal Credit work coach are the right places for that.
How to Use the Nursery Cost Calculator
Start with your household details: which UK nation you’re in, your working status, and whether either parent earns over £100,000, since this affects both your funded hours entitlement and your Tax-Free Childcare eligibility. Then choose whichever support scheme applies, Tax-Free Childcare, Universal Credit, or neither, and add any one-off registration or deposit fee your nursery charges.
For your child, set their age bracket, how many days and hours a week they attend, how many weeks of the year they’re in nursery, your provider’s actual hourly rate, daily meals and consumables cost, and any top-up fee charged on top of funded hours. If you have a second child in childcare, you can add them too, and the calculator combines both into one household total, including the correct Universal Credit cap for two or more children.
The calculator works out your funded hours entitlement automatically based on age, nation and working status, applies it only across the weeks it actually covers, since funded hours typically run term-time only while many parents need care for more weeks than that, and then layers on whichever support scheme you’ve selected. What’s left is your real net monthly cost, your net annual cost, your gross “sticker price” with no support at all for comparison, and an estimate of the total cost until your child starts school.
Nursery fees are quoted as a simple hourly rate, but what a family actually pays depends on funded hours, top-up charges, meals, and whichever of Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit applies, all of which interact differently depending on a child's age and where in the UK you live. This calculator works through all of it and shows your real net cost per month, per year, and an estimate of the total until school.
Note: Government childcare support rules and rates change and vary by individual circumstance. This calculator uses current rules as a guide. Always confirm your exact entitlement at childcarechoices.gov.uk (or mygov.scot / the equivalent in Wales and Northern Ireland) and with your provider before making financial decisions.
🏠 Household & Eligibility
This sets which free hours and support schemes apply.
Support scheme (you can only claim one)
🧒 Child 1
Their age, hours, and what your nursery charges.
0 hrs
Based on age, nation & working statusAnnual cost breakdown
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Understanding Free Hours Entitlement Across the UK
Free hours entitlement is the single biggest factor in your final bill, and it’s also the part most parents are least clear on, partly because it genuinely differs by nation.
In England, working parents (both parents working, or a single working parent, each earning under £100,000) can access 15 funded hours a week from when their child is 9 months old, rising to 30 hours a week once their child turns 3. Non-working households still get a universal 15 hours a week from age 3, but nothing before that.
In Scotland, all 3 and 4 year olds get 1,140 funded hours a year, which works out to around 30 hours a week in term time, regardless of whether their parents work. Some 2 year olds may also qualify through separate eligibility criteria such as care experience or low income.
In Wales, working parents of 3-4 year olds can access up to 30 funded hours a week across 48 weeks of the year through the Childcare Offer for Wales, combining funded early education with additional childcare hours. Non-working households get 12.5 funded hours a week, term-time only, through Foundation Phase early education.
In Northern Ireland, there is currently no universal free hours scheme. Support is instead provided through the Childcare Subsidy Scheme, which works differently to the free hours model used across the rest of the UK.
Because eligibility hinges on working status and income, it’s worth re-checking your entitlement whenever your circumstances change, rather than assuming an earlier entitlement still applies once your child moves into a new age bracket.
Why “Free” Hours Don’t Always Mean a Free Place
One of the most common surprises for parents is discovering that a “funded” place still comes with a bill attached. This usually comes down to two things this calculator accounts for directly.
The first is top-up fees. The government pays nurseries a set rate per funded hour, and in many areas that rate doesn’t fully cover what it actually costs a nursery to run a place, particularly in higher-cost regions. Many providers are legally allowed to charge an additional hourly top-up even during funded hours to cover that gap, and the amount varies a lot between nurseries.
The second is meals and consumables. Nappies, formula, and food are frequently billed separately from the hourly rate entirely, and funded hours generally don’t cover them at all, regardless of whether the hours themselves are free.
Neither of these is hidden or unusual, they’re standard practice across the sector, but they rarely appear in a nursery’s headline advertised rate, which is exactly why they’re built into this calculator’s figures rather than left out.
Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit: Which Is Better?
You cannot claim both Tax-Free Childcare and the childcare element of Universal Credit at the same time, so it’s worth understanding the difference before choosing.
Tax-Free Childcare works like a top-up savings account: for every 80p you pay in, the government adds 20p, up to £2,000 per child per year (or £4,000 for a disabled child). It’s available to most working parents, including the self-employed, as long as neither parent earns over £100,000, and it doesn’t affect any other benefits you receive.
Universal Credit’s childcare element covers up to 85% of your eligible childcare costs, capped at £1,014.63 a month for one child or £1,739.37 a month for two or more children. This tends to work out more generously for low-to-middle income households with high childcare costs relative to their income, but because it’s part of Universal Credit, claiming it interacts with your wider benefit entitlement, so it isn’t always a clean side-by-side comparison.
As a general rule, Tax-Free Childcare tends to suit households with moderate childcare costs who aren’t otherwise eligible for or claiming Universal Credit, while Universal Credit tends to suit lower-income households already in the Universal Credit system with higher childcare costs relative to their income. The calculator above estimates both for your situation, so you can see which one comes out ahead before committing to one or the other.
Practical Ways to Reduce Your Nursery Bill
- Time funded hours changes carefully. If your child’s entitlement increases at a fixed point, such as the term after their 3rd birthday, it can be worth timing changes to your childcare pattern, or even a return to work, to land just after that increase rather than just before it.
- Ask about top-up fees before signing up anywhere. Not all nurseries charge a top-up on funded hours, and the amount varies significantly between providers. It’s a fair, direct question to ask when comparing nurseries, since it can add hundreds of pounds a year that don’t show up in the advertised hourly rate.
- Check whether a registered childminder works out cheaper. Childminders are eligible for the same funded hours schemes as nurseries in most cases, and are sometimes, though not always, cheaper per hour, particularly for babies and toddlers.
- Reassess Tax-Free Childcare versus Universal Credit at least once a year. Your eligibility and the better option for your household can shift as income, working pattern, or number of children change, so it’s worth rerunning the comparison rather than assuming last year’s choice still holds.
- Compare term-time-only places against full-year ones. If you only need childcare during term time, some nurseries offer lower rates for term-time-only places, which avoids paying full price for weeks you don’t actually need.
- If you’re stocking up on the essentials nursery doesn’t cover, our baby care discount codes cover nappies, formula and everyday baby essentials, which can add up just as much as the fees themselves over a year.
- For everything else around getting a nursery space ready, our nursery and bedding offers cover cots, bedding and nursery furniture, worth checking before buying anything full price.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does nursery cost per month in the UK?
This varies enormously by region, provider, and how many funded hours apply, but a full-time place for a child without funded hours can often run from around £800 to well over £1,500 a month in higher-cost areas such as London. Once funded hours and Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit are applied, particularly for a 3-4 year old in England receiving 30 funded hours, the net cost can drop substantially. Running your specific hours, rate and age through the calculator above gives a far more accurate figure than a general average.
Do I have to pay anything during my child’s funded hours?
Often, yes. Many nurseries charge a top-up fee even during funded hours, to cover the gap between the government’s funding rate and what the nursery actually charges privately. Meals and consumables are also typically billed separately and aren’t covered by funded hours at all. This is standard and legal practice across most of the sector, not a sign of anything wrong with a particular nursery.
Can I get both Tax-Free Childcare and 30 funded hours?
Yes. Funded hours and Tax-Free Childcare are separate schemes and can be used together, Tax-Free Childcare can help cover top-up fees, meals, and any hours beyond your funded allowance. It’s Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit specifically that are mutually exclusive, you can only claim one of those two.
What happens to my funded hours if I stop working?
Working-parent funded hours, such as the additional hours from age 3 in England, generally have a time-limited “grace period” if you temporarily stop working, but the exact rules and time limits can change. It’s worth checking the current position at childcarechoices.gov.uk directly if your working status changes, rather than assuming your funded hours will continue indefinitely.
Does this calculator account for sibling discounts?
Not directly, since sibling discounts can vary a lot by individual nursery. If your provider offers one, simply reduce the hourly rate or top-up fee entered for your second child in the calculator to reflect it.
Is the “until school” estimate exact?
No, it’s a rough projection based on your current net cost and your child’s age bracket, assuming your circumstances stay broadly similar. Your real total will change as your child moves into new funded-hours brackets and as nursery rates change over time, so it’s best treated as a planning estimate rather than a fixed figure.
Who built this calculator?
The Savzz Nursery Cost Calculator was built by the team at Savzz.co.uk, a UK money-saving and discount code site. We built it because nursery pricing is genuinely difficult to compare once funded hours, top-up fees, meals, and two competing support schemes are all involved, and most parents end up estimating their real bill with guesswork rather than an actual calculation.
This calculator combines all of those moving parts using the current published rules for each UK nation, and lets you compare Tax-Free Childcare against Universal Credit directly using your own figures. It is not personalised financial or benefits advice, for your exact entitlement, childcarechoices.gov.uk and your local council remain the accurate sources. It is free to use with no sign-up needed.
Final Thoughts
Nursery costs are genuinely one of the largest household bills many UK families face in the first few years of a child’s life, and the way free hours, top-ups, and government support interact is complicated enough that most parents are paying more, or claiming less support, than they need to, simply because the full picture is hard to see in one place.
Run your own numbers through the calculator above whenever your child’s age bracket, working pattern, or nursery changes, and double-check your exact entitlement directly with childcarechoices.gov.uk or your nation’s equivalent before making any decisions based on the figures here.
