Students with children, Childcare Grant

You can apply for Childcare Grant (CCG) to help cover your childcare costs if you’re an undergraduate student who has children.

How much you get depends on your household income. You do not have to pay it back.

How much you get will depend on your household income, how many dependent children you have and what your childcare costs are.

You’ll have to cover any remaining childcare costs yourself. If you’re a part-time student, your CCG will be calculated based on your study intensity.

2021 to 2022 academic year

You could get 85% of your childcare costs up to a maximum of:

• £179.62 per week for 1 dependent child
• £307.95 per week for 2 or more dependent children

If you do not have a childcare provider at the time you apply, you can still get CCG, but this will be capped at £138.31 per week or 85% of actual costs, whichever is lower. Once you supply childcare provider details, we’ll recalculate your funding for the higher amount.

2020 to 2021 academic year

You could get 85% of your childcare costs up to a maximum of:

• £174.22 a week for 1 dependent child
• £298.69 a week for 2 or more dependent children

If you do not have a childcare provider at the time you apply, you can still get CCG, but this will be capped at £134.70 per week or 85% of actual costs, whichever is lower. Once you supply childcare provider details, we’ll recalculate your funding for the higher amount.

You can apply for CCG if you:

• have at least one child under 15 who depends on you financially, or under 17 if they have special educational needs
• are using a childcare provider registered by Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW)
• are getting full-time or part-time undergraduate student finance that depends on your household income

You cannot apply if you:

• claim the childcare element of Universal Credit or Working Tax Credit
• get tax-free childcare from HM Revenue and Customs
• are paying a relative to care for your child only
• or your partner are receiving funding from the NHS

You should apply after you’ve applied for your main student finance by submitting an application form to estimate your childcare costs:

• Childcare Grant application form – 2021 to 2022
• Childcare Grant application form – 2020 to 2021

If you told us you wanted to apply for CCG when you applied for your main student finance, we’ll send you the form automatically.

You need to provide us with evidence of your children. You need to submit a copy of one of the following:

• birth certificate for each child
• certificate of naturalisation for each child
• Home Office document confirming each child’s name and date of birth

You also need to prove your children are dependent on you. You need to submit a copy of one of the following:

• your most recent Tax Credits Award Notice naming all your children
• your most recent Universal Credit Award Notice naming all your children
• all pages of your most recent Child Benefit letter naming all your children

Confirming your costs

You and your childcare provider must confirm your childcare costs 3 times a year. We’ll send you a form each time you need to do this:

• Confirmation of childcare payments form – 2021 to 2022
• Confirmation of childcare payments form – 2020 to 2021

If you’ve been paid too much, we’ll deduct this amount from your next payment. Find out more about what happens when you’ve been overpaid CCG.

If you’ve not been paid enough, we’ll pay anything owed to you as soon as possible.

If you do not confirm your costs, your CCG will be stopped and you will have to pay back anything you’ve already been paid.

We’ll pay your money into your bank account, usually 3 times a year at the start of each term. You can then use it to pay your childcare provider.