➭ Eligibility Criteria

To access the childcare element of the Offer parents and guardians must:
• Have a child aged 3 or 4 years and is able to access part time Learning Foundation Nursery Education
• Live in Wales
• Be employed or self-employed and permanently reside in Wales. Both parents/co-habiting couples must be working in a two parent family, or the sole parent in a lone parent family;
• Both parents are employed but one or both parents are temporarily away from the workplace on parental, maternity, paternity or adoption leave;
• The parent/carers will need to earn the equivalent of at least 16 hours at national living wage or national minimum wage per week; or are in receipt of specific caring benefits. Parent will not to be eligible if they earn more than £100,000 per annum – this is a per parent limit.
• A parent in education or training can be a parent who is either: – enrolled on a Higher Education (HE) undergraduate or postgraduate course that is at least 10 weeks in length. This includes courses delivered via distance learning. – enrolled on a course that is at least 10 weeks in length and which is delivered at a Further Education (FE) Institution. This includes courses delivered via distance learning.

Where parents have separated but do not share equal custody of the child, the parent with primary custody will be eligible to take up the Offer (if they meet the eligibility criteria). Where parents share equal custody one parent will need to be nominated as the lead parent for the Offer.
Parents, guardians, step-parents and live-in partners will all need to meet the eligibility criteria in order for a child living within that household to be able to take up the Offer.