childcare voluchers

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

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d2001
Posts: 78
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:19 pm

childcare voluchers

Post by d2001 »

Hi All,

Does anyone know if we can use childcare vouchers for payment of independent school fees. I think they can be used for after school clubs but most clubs dont accept them....

I dont want to be paying into the childcare voucher scheme and not benefit.... ie no where to use them,,,,

cheers
DP
Samlet
Posts: 306
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:18 am

Re: childcare voluchers

Post by Samlet »

I was able to use them until my child was 5 and thereafter for after-school clubs - but about 2 or 3 years ago they told me that on accountant's advice they could no longer take them for clubs. So I would check with the school first.
Kingfisher
Posts: 416
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2012 7:08 pm

Re: childcare voluchers

Post by Kingfisher »

No. They cannot be used to pay for compulsory education. They can pay for after school care though but I think the provider needs to be registered with Ofsted.
Okanagan
Posts: 1706
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:20 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Re: childcare voluchers

Post by Okanagan »

They can also be used for things like unaccompanied PGL trips, which seem to also be counted as "childcare".
Amber
Posts: 8058
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: childcare voluchers

Post by Amber »

Kingfisher wrote:No. They cannot be used to pay for compulsory education. They can pay for after school care though but I think the provider needs to be registered with Ofsted.
Compulsory education starts in this country when a child is 5 years plus one term. If your child is starting school before that, you can use them towards fees. As almost all children do start school when they are 4, you can use them then so long as it's a registered provider.
Samlet
Posts: 306
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:18 am

Re: childcare voluchers

Post by Samlet »

Which is exactly what I did - in fact I took the full amount and overpaid my bill every term, so that by the time she was 5 and I couldn't claim for the education any more I had actually already paid for the next term's fees (IYSWIM).
modernista
Posts: 302
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2010 12:03 pm

Re: childcare voluchers

Post by modernista »

My DD went to a full time nursery for years 1 and 2 . They were registered to go up to year 6 (but didn't because of lack of uptake). Both DH and I used CC vouchers for it.
P's mum
Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:56 am

Re: childcare voluchers

Post by P's mum »

You can also use them for boarding school fees - or certainly could my entitlement ended 12 months ago but I used them for this until then. The school seemed to quite au fait with this. I thought it a very good deal.
P's mum
silverysea
Posts: 1105
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 3:32 pm

Re: childcare voluchers

Post by silverysea »

Were they put towards the boarding charges rather than the fees?
d2001
Posts: 78
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:19 pm

Re: childcare voluchers

Post by d2001 »

Thanks for replying everyone. I was specifically interested in secondary school. seems we cant use vouchers to pay for the main fees, just boarding, after school clubs and extra curricular activities.
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