Edenred Childcare Vouchers
The scheme that gives you more to play with.
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Access the most up-to-date information regarding the Childcare Voucher scheme.
Childcare Voucher savings
Childcare Vouchers are a simple, straightforward way to pay for quality childcare that saves you money. That’s because you don’t pay tax or National Insurance on childcare vouchers up to specified limits – so working parents can save up to £1,000 a year – or double, if both parents sign up for a Childcare Voucher scheme.
Most employers who provide Childcare Vouchers do so through a salary sacrifice scheme. This means you agree to reduce your gross salary by a certain value, and receive Childcare Vouchers to the same value, but pay no tax or National Insurance on those vouchers. So you save the tax and NI you would have paid on your salary.
The table below shows the savings you could make taking Childcare Vouchers through a salary sacrifice scheme.
To establish what rate of tax you pay and how much tax and NI exemption you are entitled to, your employer will perform a ‘basic earnings assessment’.
To join the scheme please speak with your employer.
| Weekly | Monthly | Annually | |
| Basic rate taxpayer tax and NI exempt maximum | £55 | £243 | £2,916 |
| Potential savings of around | £17 | £73 | £875 |
| Higher rate taxpayer tax and NI exempt maximum | £28 | £124 | £1,484 |
| Potential savings of around | £12 | £52 | £625 |
| Additional rate taxpayer tax and NI exempt maximum | £25 | £110 | £,1325 |
| Potential savings of around | £12 | £52 | £623 |
Figures correct as of 6th January 2024.
Who is eligible?
Both male and female employees can participate in the scheme.
Childcare Vouchers can only be used for your child until 1st September following their 15th birthday (or 16th birthday if they are registered disabled).
You must have parental responsibility for the child - the child must be your child, your stepchild or a child for whom you have parental responsibility. The childcare must be 'registered' or 'approved'
If the vouchers are offered through a salary sacrifice arrangement, the reduction in salary should not bring you below minimum wage.
What the vouchers can be used for
Childcare Vouchers can be used to pay for a wide range of childcare including:
- Home based care such as childminders, nannies and au pairs.
- Pre-school care such as nursery schools, play schools and crèches.
- Care for older children such as out of school clubs (breakfast clubs, afterschool clubs) and holiday clubs.
Your Childcare Vouchers can be used to pay more than one childcare provider if you wish. The only condition is that they will need to be registered with or approved by an appropriate body (such as Ofsted) and be affiliated to the Edenred network.
Getting started
Most employers who provide Childcare Vouchers do so through a salary sacrifice scheme. This means you agree to reduce your salary by a certain value, and receive Childcare Vouchers to the same value, but pay no tax or National Insurance on those vouchers.
To join your employer’s Childcare Vouchers scheme, you first of all need to complete a salary sacrifice agreement. Your employer will give you directions on how to do this.
After your agreement has been submitted to your employer, they will reduce your salary by the requested amount, and arrange for vouchers to be provided to you.
Childcare Vouchers are usually provided electronically, via an online account. Shortly before the pay day on which you are due to receive your first vouchers, your employer will advise Edenred of the value of vouchers to be provided, and we will send to you, by post, a welcome letter which gives you details of how to access your online account.
On the date selected by your employer, which is usually on or around your pay day, your account will be credited with your chosen value of Childcare Vouchers. Vouchers are not tied to a particular carer, and do not have to be used straight away, so you have the flexibility to manage your account as you so wish, and can accrue a balance of vouchers to be used in the future if required.
Any value of vouchers, up to your account balance, can be transferred to a childcare provider at any time, so if you pay different amounts or different childcare providers this can be accommodated with ease.
Paying your carer
You can transfer vouchers from your online account (see ‘How to Join’) to any childcare provider who is affiliated with Edenred. Contact your childcare provider to establish if they have accepted Edenred vouchers before. If they have, then ask them for their Edenred account number, which will begin with the letter ‘P’.
If your childcare provider has not accepted our vouchers before, they can affiliate online here. Any registered (Ofsted, Care Inspectorate, CSSIW etc) childcare provider can affiliate with Edenred.
When they apply, they will need to provide a copy of their registration certificate to us so that we can validate their application. Once a childcare provider’s application has been validated, we will issue them an account number, which begins with the letter ‘P’, which they should communicate to you.
There are two ways to transfer vouchers to a childcare provider from your online account– individual payment, or standing order. Setting up a standing order allows you to automatically transfer vouchers to your childcare provider for the same amount each week or month. An individual payment allows you to transfer a one-off amount at any given time.
When arranging payments – either manually or by standing order – all you need is your childcare provider’s Edenred account number, beginning with the letter ‘P’. Each time a transfer is made Edenred will issue a payment to your childcare provider using the payment details they provided when they affiliated.
If your childcare provider has opted to be paid by bank transfer, it will usually take 3 – 4 days from the point a transfer is made for the amount to credit their bank account.
Your online Childcare Voucher account
Childcare Vouchers are usually provided electronically, via an online account. Shortly before the pay day on which you are due to receive your first vouchers, your employer will advise Edenred of the value of vouchers to be provided, and we will send to you a 'parent welcome' which gives you details of how to access your online account.
On the date selected by your employer (usually on or around your pay day), your account will be credited with your chosen value of Childcare Vouchers. Vouchers are not tied to a particular carer, and do not have to be used straight away, so you have the flexibility to manage your account as you so wish, and can accrue a balance of vouchers to be used in the future if required.
Any value of vouchers, up to your account balance, can be transferred to a childcare provider at any time, so if you pay different amounts or different childcare providers this can be accommodated with ease.
FAQs
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Ofsted Childcare Register – Compulsory (England)
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Ofsted Childcare Register – Voluntary (England)
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Local Health and Social Services Trusts (Northern Ireland)
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Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS) (Scotland)
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Childcare Approval Scheme (Wales)
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The Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales
Care provided by the governing body of a school is approved if it takes place:
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outside normal school hours (this means the normal hours of compulsory
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education adopted by the school as appropriate for the age of the child)
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on school premises, or
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on premises that are covered by the inspection of the whole school
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activity by Ofsted or the equivalent inspection body for certain independent schools.
This mean that in terms of private education this would only apply to children under 5 (end of first term following 5th birthday).
If the child is between 5 and 15 (or 16 years old if they are disabled), all of the following must apply:
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the childcare or activity based childcare is provided out of school hours
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the care is provided under the direction of the school's governing body
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the care is provided on the school premises, or on other premises covered by the inspection that Ofsted carry out of the whole school - an example of this could be if the school uses a village hall for its out of school hours childcare activities
Your carer will need to affiliate with Edenred to accept Childcare Vouchers.
Unfortunately, the Government closed the Childcare Vouchers scheme to new entrants on 4th October 2018. This means that if you’re a parent looking to join Childcare Vouchers for the first time that option is no longer available to you. This is because the Government launched a new scheme called Tax-Free Childcare.
If you have missed out on the savings from Childcare Vouchers due to this Government decision, you can still have your voice heard by visiting futureofchildcaresupport.com to share your story.
Whether you can receive a salary alternative to vouchers you have accrued will depend on the conditions of the scheme determined by your employer in the agreement you signed up to. Please consult those conditions and discuss them with your employer if necessary. It is quite common that employers’ schemes do not allow for this.
However, as Childcare Vouchers can be used for out of school and holiday clubs for children up to the age of 15, you may well be able to get further use of any vouchers you have built up.
You can continue to receive the vouchers for as long as:
- You have not previously made a successful application for Tax-Free Childcare
- You remain with the same employer
- Your child is still eligible
- You have had at least one wage adjustment and received vouchers within any 12 month period
This depends on your family’s individual circumstances. Download our ‘Parent’s Guide to Childcare Vouchers and Tax-Free Childcare’ for further guidance, or visit the government website www.childcarechoices.gov.uk. Please note that information and figures provided are for general guidance only and we are unable to provide advice on individual circumstances.
The date on which you receive vouchers is set by your employer each time they place an order for you, so you should contact them directly with any queries of this nature.
If you receive the childcare element of working tax credits, which provides specific support related to childcare costs, this will in most cases be affected, as the value of Childcare Vouchers you receive will reduce the value of the qualifying childcare costs you can claim in tax credits.
HMRC have a calculator that you can use to find out the impact of Childcare Vouchers on tax credits: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/calcs/ccin.htm
This is something you should speak to your employer about.
There is an expiry date printed on paper Childcare Vouchers, this is for internal auditing purposes only. Parents can always use their vouchers beyond this date to pay for approved childcare and Edenred will always honour such vouchers. Electronic Childcare Vouchers do not expire; however, your employer may have additional conditions on usage if you leave their employment.
Your family cannot benefit from Childcare Vouchers and Tax-Free Childcare at the same time, but you can remain on the Childcare Vouchers scheme as long as:
- You have not previously made a successful application for Tax-Free Childcare
- You remain with the same employer
- Your child is still eligible
- You have had at least one wage adjustment and received vouchers within any 12 month period
Edenred Childcare Vouchers do not expire and if you decide to switch to Tax-Free Childcare at a later date, you can still use up any vouchers accrued in your account. However, your employer may have additional conditions on usage if you leave their employment, please check with your HR team.
No. You will not be eligible to stay on the Childcare Vouchers scheme if your partner is on the Tax-Free Childcare scheme.
Edenred Childcare Vouchers do not expire and if you decide to switch to Tax-Free Childcare at a later date, you can still use up any vouchers accrued in your account. However, your employer may have additional conditions on usage if you leave their employment, please check with your HR team.
As long as you remain eligible for the Childcare Vouchers scheme, you can change how much you want to receive in accordance with your employer’s scheme rules. Please note that you will need to have had at least one wage adjustment and receive vouchers within any 12 month period to remain eligible for the scheme in the long term.
When you join the Childcare Vouchers scheme, you are entering into an agreement with your current employer. When you move to a new employer, you are technically ‘leaving’ the scheme. As the Childcare Vouchers scheme closed to new entrants on 4th October 2018 you will not be able to ‘rejoin’ your new employer’s scheme.
However, if you are transferring to a new employer via TUPE, your rights are protected and you will still be eligible to remain on the Childcare Vouchers scheme.
You are still able to receive Childcare Vouchers in conjunction with 30 free hours, despite what the government website is currently advising. This is an error on their behalf. For clarification and to be able to proceed with your application, call HMRC on 0300 123 4097. Alternatively, if the error message appears, confirm you are not receiving Childcare Vouchers to proceed, then return to your account later to correct that you are receiving them.
Childcare Vouchers can be used to pay for the care of children up to the age of 15 or 16 if they are disabled, including:
- Home based care such as childminders, nannies and au pairs
- Pre-school care such as nursery schools, play schools and crèches
- Care for older children such as out of school clubs (breakfast clubs, afterschool clubs including activities, homework clubs and boarding, and holiday clubs)
You can use your Childcare Vouchers to pay more than one carer if you wish. The only condition is that your carer(s) will need to be registered with or approved by the appropriate body.
The current registration and approval bodies include:
- Ofsted Childcare Register – Compulsory (England)
- Ofsted Childcare Register – Voluntary (England)
- Local Health and Social Services Trusts (Northern Ireland)
- Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS) (Scotland)
- Childcare Approval Scheme (Wales)
- The Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales
It is likely your chosen carer(s) has previously been paid with Edenred Childcare Vouchers and is already affiliated to the network. Simply ask them for their Edenred Account Number which you will need to transfer electronic vouchers to them online. Your carer will then be paid automatically by Edenred each time you make a transfer.
If they have not been paid with Edenred Childcare Vouchers before, they can affiliate online here.
As your Childcare Vouchers are not tied to a particular carer, you simply need to ask your new carer for their Edenred account number, or ask them to affiliate with us if they have not accepted Edenred Childcare Vouchers before. Once you have their Edenred account number you can arrange payment via your online account as you did with any previous carers. If you have a standing order set up to go to your old carer, you should delete it.