The DfE has announced national average hourly funding rates of £11.22 for under-twos, £8.28 for two-year-olds and £5.88 for three and four-year-olds from April when the first phase of the extended offer comes in.
Today the Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed further increases to funding rates to deliver the expanded entitlement, and announced that parents who will be eligible for the first phase of the rollout will be able to apply for a funded place for their two-year-old from 2 January 2024.
The new rates are the amount of money local authorities will receive on average from April 2024, not providers.
While the DfE claims the rates ‘reflect the increase in the National Living Wage from next April’, many in the sector have argued that the new rate for three and four-year-olds continues to fall short of what is actually needed by providers.
