ECE Funding Handbook

Welcome to the ECE Funding Handbook. This handbook is issued under section 548(5) of the Education and Training Act 2020.

Funding of certain services and certified playgroups – New Zealand Legislation(external link)

The funding paid to licensed services is paid subject to the terms and conditions set out under this handbook and must be complied with. The terms used in this handbook are based in the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008.

This handbook is designed to be a 'one-stop-shop' of everything you need to know about early childhood funding, including:

the ECE Funding Subsidy
20 Hours ECE funding
equity funding
the annual top-up for isolated services.

This information does not apply to certificated playgroups

The information in the Funding Handbook does not apply to certificated playgroups.

These services should contact their Ministry regional office for more information.

Local Ministry offices

Download the ECE Funding Handbook

If you would like to print a copy of this handbook, refer to the list of downloads in the contents section where you will find downloadable PDF versions of each chapter.

ECE Funding Handbook downloads

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9-2 Calculating the ECE Funding Subsidy

Introduction
- This section explains how services can calculate the ECE Funding Subsidy.

Example
- Throughout this section there are examples of two services calculating their ECE Funding Subsidy.
  - Kowhai Street Childcare Centre is an all-day service.
  - Huia Playcentre is a sessional service.

2.5 hour sessions
- A session of 2.5 hours will receive funding for 3 hours.

Before you begin
- Make sure you have:
  - a copy of the enrolment records for every child who attended your service in the previous four months
  - a copy of the attendance records for every child who attended your service in the previous four months
  - attendance registers to help work out where the absence rules need to be applied.
  Remember: You must take into account the Three Week Rule and Frequent Absence Rule when completing your RS7 Return. You can find more information on the absence rules in the sections listed below:

Step 1: Under 2s

Follow the steps below to calculate the FCHs for children aged under two:

Step	Action
1	List the daily number of hours of enrolment for each permanently enrolled child under two years of age.
2	If any children under two years of age attended the service on a casual or conditional basis, list the number of hours each of these children attended.
3	List the number of hours that can be claimed for each child. Note: a maximum of six hours can be claimed each day for each licensed child-place.
4	Add together the claimable hours for each day. This is the Under Twos FCHs for the day.
5	Round the total to the nearest whole number. Numbers ending in 0.5 or above should be rounded up to the next whole number. Numbers ending in 0.4 or below should be rounded down to the previous number.
6	Repeat Steps 4–5 for each day in the month.
7	Write the FCHs for each day in the column labelled “Under 2”.
8	Add together the FCHs for Under 2s for the month.
9	Write the total for the month in the box labelled “Total”.

Step 1: all-day example
- On 1 September, Kowhai Street Childcare Centre had three children under the age of two enrolled in their service. One child under the age of two attended casually.

Step 1: sessional example
- Huia Playcentre operates two sessions per day, each for 2.5 hours:
  Note: A session of 2.5 hours will receive funding for 3 hours.

Step 2: 2 & overs
- Repeat Step 1 (above) for children aged two or over less any hours for children claimed as 20 Hours ECE.

Step 2: all-day example
- On 1 September, Kowhai Street Childcare Centre had six children aged two or over enrolled in their service. Four children aged two or over attended casually.

Step 2: sessional example
- Huia Playcentre operates two sessions per day, each for 2.5 hours: