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Are you eligible for Care to Learn?

You can usually claim Care to Learn funding if you are living and learning in England, and can answer “yes” to the following five questions.

If you’re not sure, call the Learner Support helpline.

• Contact the Learner Support helpline

Question one: are you under 20 years old?

To get Care to Learn, you must be under 20 years old on the day your course or learning programme begins.

As long as you begin the course before you are 20, Care to Learn will contribute towards your childcare costs until that course has finished.

The sources of help with childcare costs are different if you're aged 20 or over.

• Help with childcare costs if you're aged 20 or over

Question two: are you caring for your own child or children?

You can claim Care to Learn either as the child’s father or mother, as long as:

• the other parent is unable to provide childcare (because, for example, they are working or absent)
• the other parent is not claiming the childcare element of Tax Credit

If you have more than one child, you can get help for each of them.

Question three: do you meet the residency conditions?

To make a new claim for Care to Learn, you must:

• live in England, and
• be either a British citizen or a national of another country within the European Economic Area (EEA)

If you don’t meet these conditions, you may still be able to get Care to Learn. For advice, call the Learner Support Service on 0800 121 8989 – or check the guidance notes that come with the application form.

• Contact the Learner Support helpline

Question four: is your learning eligible?

Care to Learn is only available for learning in England that has some public funding.

Your options include:

• courses in schools, sixth forms, sixth form colleges, other colleges and learning providers, including Foundation Learning
• courses in your community - for example, at Children’s Centres

Apprentices who receive a wage can’t receive Care to Learn but can receive help with childcare costs through the Tax Credit system. See ‘Childcare benefits, tax credits and other help for working parents’ to find out more.

University and higher education courses are not covered by Care to Learn. For information on help with childcare costs in full-time higher education see ‘Help for higher education students with children’.

• Help for higher education students with children

• Childcare benefits, tax credits and other help for working parents (parents section)

Question five: is your childcare registered?

To get Care to Learn, you must use childcare provision that is registered with Ofsted. Registration means that the childcare must meet certain safety and quality standards.

Your options might include a childminder, day nursery, pre-school playgroup or out-of-school club.

If you want a relative to look after your child, you’ll only be able to get Care to Learn if the relative is registered with Ofsted, lives apart from the child and is providing care for other children.

• Search for Ofsted inspection reports Opens new window

What Care to Learn pays for

Care to Learn will pay up to £160 per child per week (up to £175 if you live in London) to help with the cost of:

• childcare while you're learning, on work placements linked to your course or programme of study or doing private study
• any registration fees (up to £80) or deposit (up to £250) charged by the childcare provider
• a childcare 'taster' (up to five days) aimed at helping your child settle in before your learning starts
• fees you need to pay during summer holidays to keep the childcare place open
• additional travel costs you have to pay so you can take your child from home to the childcare provider

The childcare provider will receive payments direct from Care to Learn. Funding to help with travel costs will be paid to your learning or training provider regularly and they will reimburse you or arrange travel for you.

If your circumstances change

You will need to let the Learner Support Service know if your learning, childcare or personal details change while you are receiving Care to Learn.

For more information, see ‘How to apply for Care to Learn’.

• How to apply for Care to Learn

Effect on other benefits or allowances

You don’t have to be on benefits to claim Care to Learn. Claiming Care to Learn will not affect your own or your family's benefits or allowances. You may also be able to get help with other costs associated with learning:

• Expecting or bringing up children benefits (money, tax and benefits section)

• Financial help for lone parents (parents section)

How to apply

To find out if you could get help with childcare while learning, apply for Care to Learn as soon as you can.

For your childcare provider to be paid from the day you start learning, you’ll need to apply before your course starts – or within 28 days of starting.

• How to apply for Care to Learn

Useful contacts

• Care to Learn contacts