➭ Childcare Offer holiday weeks entitlement during school holidays

The Childcare Offer will provide working parents of 3 and 4 year olds with 30 hours of funded early education and childcare per week, up to 48 weeks of the year. The term time element is made up of 39 weeks, with the remaining 9 weeks of the Offer treated as non-term time or ‘holiday provision’. During these 9 weeks holiday provision, eligible children will receive 30 hours of childcare only each week.
The Welsh Government will not be specifying which of the 13 weeks non-term time are designated as the 9 weeks of holiday provision in order to allow flexibility for parents who are in different occupations, such as those who have to work over the Summer or Christmas holidays.

However, parents will not be able to ‘stretch’ their entitlements across weeks or transfer unused hours across weeks. Holiday provision will be allocated at the beginning of each term the child is eligible for the Offer. Children will be allocated 3 weeks of holiday provision per term. Any unused allocation can be carried over and used in the next term, provided they are still eligible to receive the Offer. Children who are eligible for the Offer for one or two terms only will receive 3 weeks holiday provision at the beginning of each term, just as any other child would.

Please see the following 9 weeks pro-rata holiday entitlement:
• A child who is eligible to receive the Offer for three terms will be entitled to receive 9 weeks of holiday childcare during school holidays.
• A child who is eligible to receive the Offer for two terms will be entitled to receive 6 weeks of holiday childcare during school holidays.
• A child who is eligible to receive the Offer for one term will be entitled to receive 3 weeks of holiday childcare during school holidays.

Where a child is offered a full-time education place before the September after their fourth birthday (e.g. term after their fourth birthday or the term they turn four), that child is still eligible to receive 30 hours per week of holiday provision up until the September after their fourth birthday.
Children born in autumn or spring terms may be eligible to receive the Offer for more than one year. In such cases, at the beginning of the second year a new allocation of holiday provision will be given for the remainder of the time they are eligible to receive the Offer.
Please note, once a child is eligible for full-time education they are no longer entitled to the Childcare Offer during term-time.