🧒 UK Childcare Cost Calculator

Funded hours, Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit childcare stack in ways nobody explains at the nursery door — and the difference between them is often more than a car payment. Put in what your provider charges and this shows the real annual bill, what each scheme knocks off, and whether another hour of work actually pays. England rates, 2026/27; every rate is an editable box, so a future uprating cannot silently make this wrong.

Your family

Child’s age & your situation

Children in paid childcare

Hours of childcare a week

Weeks a year you need it

Adjusted net income over £100,000

Disabled child (higher TFC cap)

What the provider charges

Weekly bill for those hours

Meals & consumables a week

Funded hours a week

Weeks the funded hours cover

Which help you use

Scheme

Your take-home pay an hour (£)

Extra work hours being considered

Rates used (editable — 2026/27)

TFC top-up cap, per child, a year (£)

UC cap a month, 1 child (£)

UC cap a month, 2+ children (£)

UC taper on extra earnings (%)

England only. Scotland funds 1,140 hours a year for 3–4 year olds (and eligible 2 year olds); Wales runs the 30-hour Childcare Offer for working parents of 3–4 year olds plus Flying Start; Northern Ireland funds 12.5 pre-school hours a week. Confirm your own figures on GOV.UK before committing to a place — this is arithmetic, not advice, and providers price places in ways no calculator can see.