Outlined below is an update from the DfE. Please also see attached:
Eligibility criteria DfE Childminder startup grants
Eligibility criteria DfE Childminder startup grants Frequently Asked Questions FAQs _ DfE Childminder Start-up Grant Scheme
Applicant guidance _ DfE Childminder Start-up Grant Scheme
Application process DfE Childminer Startup Grant
Dear Colleagues,
Launch of start-up grants for childminders
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-childminder-start-up-grant
The Childminder Start-up Grant Scheme is now open for applications at the above link. The Scheme will support new childminders by providing them with grant funding, worth £7.2m over the next two financial years, helping childminders with the cost of setting up their own businesses.
The Childminder Start-up Grants Scheme will be available to all new childminders who have completed their registration on or after 15th March 2023. Individuals who have previously been registered as childminders and wish to re-register into the sector may also apply for the scheme. There must be at least a 12-month gap between the date of their previous registration being cancelled and their new registration being finalised.
As previously announced, we will offer £600 to new childminders registering with Ofsted, and £1200 to new childminders registering with a childminder agency. £1200 grants will be paid in two instalments, with a 6-month limit on claiming the second instalment. Childminders must apply for the grant within two months of registering as a childminder, or within two months of the Scheme launching.
Our grants scheme is administered by our delivery partner, Ecorys. The application website is hosted by AIMS. For ease of access, we have attached the key guidance documents which are also available on the AIMS website once childminders have set up an account.
We’d be grateful if you could circulate this information to your wider networks.
Kind regards
The Early Years Entitlements Team
E: [email protected]
See update from the Department for Education: Following the publication of the Early Years Teacher Degree Apprenticeship Training Provider Guidance in April 2025, the Department for Education is pleased to announce the publication of the EYTDA Employer Guidance. Developed in collaboration with a sector-led Implementation group, this guidance aims to support employers in the early… Continue reading EY: Publication of Early Years Teacher Degree Apprenticeship (EYTDA) Employer Guidance: DfE
See the JCT newsletter for May which includes some suggestions for early years settings. The theme of the newsletter is vocabulary development. See JCT Newsletter May 2025
