How to use CareHours Check
CareHours Check is a cautious explainer for UK childcare support. It helps you compare the usual path for Free Childcare for Working Parents with the usual path for Tax-Free Childcare before you start the official application.
What this tool checks
- child age band
- whether the child usually lives with you
- whether the household is single-parent or partnered
- basic work-status pattern for each adult
- expected pre-tax income over the next 3 months
- the £100,000 adjusted-net-income cap
- applicant immigration position
- whether the childcare provider looks usable for the chosen route
How to use it
- Choose your UK nation and household type.
- Pick the child age band and whether the child is disabled.
- Add the applicant work status, age band, and expected 3-month income.
- If you have a partner, fill in the partner section too.
- Confirm the provider fields as best you can, then run the check.
How to read the result
- Likely fit: your answers look close to the common GOV.UK pattern.
- Needs manual check: the route may still work, but the case needs the official childcare service because of an exception, leave pattern, provider uncertainty, or devolved rules.
- Unlikely on these answers: one or more major blockers appear in the current answers.
Important limits
- This is not a government service and not an official eligibility decision.
- Free Childcare for Working Parents is treated here as an England-first explainer because local systems differ across the UK.
- Foster-care cases, some benefit-based exceptions, and unusual immigration situations should always be checked directly with the official childcare service.
- If your income is irregular, this MVP may be too conservative because GOV.UK sometimes allows averaging across the tax year.
What to prepare for the official route
- National Insurance details for the adults involved
- expected earnings information
- leave or benefit evidence if an exception applies
- provider registration / approval details
- your child’s basic details and living arrangement
Who this is for
- working parents trying to understand free-hours support
- households comparing free-hours support with Tax-Free Childcare
- parents who want a blocker-first summary before filling in the official forms
Who this is not for
- legal advice
- devolved-scheme specialist advice for every UK nation
- official childcare-account setup or application submission