What are Funded hours?
Enrolment week for Session 2026/27 is 17 to 21 November 2025
Please note the application form is currently offline for updating. The form will be available again from 9am on 17 November.
Before completing the online enrolment form, please contact the provider(s) where you would like your child to attend to ensure that space is available.
What are funded (free) hours?
These are hours funded by the Scottish Government for your child to attend an ELC provider.
There is no charge to the parent/carer for funded ELC. The hours your child is entitled to must be provided free of charge, regardless of the provider you choose to send your child to.
You cannot be charged any sort of supplement or be required to pay for any additional hours/services unless you have chosen to purchase these.
Funded hours are available from local authority nurseries or any provider who is on our registered framework listing. A list of approved ELC providers is available on our website.
How many funded hours is my child entitled to?
In the Scottish Borders all eligible two year olds and all three and four year olds are able to access up to 1140 hours of funded ELC each year. These hours are allocated on a pro-rata basis depending on when children start throughout the year.
From August 2021 all eligible children in Scotland were entitled to 1140 Hours of ELC.
The framework means that parents can access
- no less than 1 hour per day and
- no more than 10 hours per day
- A maximum of 30 hours per week if take over term time.
- No less than 38 weeks
- No more than 50 weeks per year
Parents can choose to send their child for as many or a few of these hours as they want, or they can split the hours between up to 3 providers.
Hours are allocated on a pro-rata basis so children starting at points through the year will not receive the same number of hours as a child who starts their funded place in August.