Annual payment schedule - full provider pack

1. Overview

This schedule sets out the principal dates, payment cycles, submission deadlines and obligations for providers for the financial year 2026–27. Its purpose is to make sure every provider knows exactly when funding will arrive and what needs to happen beforehand to secure it promptly.

All providers claim on a termly basis via the Establishment Portal. Each termly claim is then broken down into monthly payments, calculated as set out below.

Dates throughout this pack are given in full, with the day of the week, so they can be added to a calendar without ambiguity. Where the source pack listed a date without a day of the week, we have kept the figures as published; please treat the Establishment Portal as the definitive source if anything appears to differ.

2. Summary of annual cycle deadline dates

Four terms make up the 2026–27 cycle. Each has its own estimate window, headcount window, mid-term change window, and a final deadline for claiming that term's funding.

3. Monthly payment schedule and calculations

Each term's funding is paid across several months. The first one or two payments are based on your estimate submission; later payments are based on your headcount submission and reconcile any difference. Please allow 3–5 working days for payments to clear once they leave the Council.

Summer term

Autumn term

Spring term

3.1 How autumn term payments are calculated

September and October are paid on your estimated hours only, not child-level data — you are paid for the hours you submit.

3.2 Why month 3 payments may change

Payments in months one and two are based on your estimate. Once you submit headcount, the system recalculates the full termly payment using your child-level data, then deducts whatever has already been paid in months one and two. That is why the month 3 payment can land higher or lower than the first two.

When the payment may reduce

The month 3 payment may be lower if your estimate included more hours than headcount later confirmed.

One example from the summer term: a child starting on 26 April is only funded from that start date, so the system calculates just four working days of April funding, even where the provider had already been paid for the full month on the strength of their estimate.

When the payment may increase

The month 3 payment, or a later payment, may be higher if headcount confirms more eligible hours than the estimate included.

Leavers, starters and other changes. Recording a leaver, starter or other adjustment triggers a recalculation using the actual start or end date entered in the submission — so keeping your Live Register current is what keeps your payment accurate.

3.3 Checking payment details in the Establishment Portal

Check the Payments tab in the Establishment Portal each term. The total there should match the monthly payment breakdown sent by Early Education Funding, provided every hour has been claimed correctly.

1. Open the Payments tab.
2. Check each child's claimed hours for the relevant term.
3. Review the Claim Amount (£) column for each child.
4. Note that these figures do not include SEN payments.

If the child-level claims are correct, the total on the second payment screen should match the monthly payment breakdown communication you receive.

Illustrative example: Summer term 2026–27 payment breakdown

A provider's total summer term payment based on their headcount submission is £61,762.53, made up as follows:

These totals include EYPP and DAF. Refer to your Establishment Portal for the full detail behind your own claims. A one-day delay affecting some June payments has been identified and resolved directly with the providers concerned.

Payment breakdown communications

Your monthly payment breakdown is included in the communication you receive. If any adjustment is made during the term, you will receive an updated communication each time a payment changes; if nothing changes, no further message is sent.

Future payment portal

A new payment portal is in development so that providers can view a monthly cost breakdown for each child.

4. Detailed autumn term timeline

The table below walks through every action point across the autumn 2026–27 term, from the estimate window opening in July to the start of spring term in January.

5. Provider actions required each term

5.1 Estimates

• keep Live Registers up to date; children who left in the previous term need an end date on or before the last day of that term.
• submit estimate hours by the stated deadline.
• check future starters are entered correctly, and only claim hours where entitlement codes are eligible.
• remember estimates are mandatory. Late submissions may delay funding and can incur charges.

Your estimate submission auto-calculates from the children on your Live Register and your future starters area. If either is not up to date, you will need to override the submission and check carefully that the hours are correct for the term. Once the deadline has passed, an estimate cannot be changed; any correction has to wait until headcount.

5.2 Headcount

• submit a termly headcount accurately and on time.
• remember the headcount can only be submitted once per term.
• Make sure children's funded hours match both Live Register entries and actual attendance within the term.
• A termly census is completed at each headcount.

5.3 Mid-term changes

• submit mid-term changes only within the authorised window for the term.
• record leavers, joiners and changes accurately, according to actual attendance.
• tick the mid-term change box so the change applies to the current term — leaving it unticked defers the change to next term only.

5.4 Parent code validation

• validate all Early Learning for two-year-olds and working parent codes by the required deadlines.
• check expiry dates and grace periods for every child.
• do not offer a funded place without a validated code; offer a provisional place instead where a code is not yet eligible for the coming term.
• re-validate children continuing into the next term, again offering only a continuation of funded place if eligible, or a provisional place otherwise.

6. Payment rules

• payments are made within 3–5 working days of the scheduled date.
• funding cannot be backdated for incorrectly entered claims once a term has passed.
• providers must check remittances against submissions before the end of a term.
• amendments made after the final termly deadlines cannot be paid.
• extending a deadline within a term, following a missed deadline, will incur a charge.

All dates in this pack may be revised; providers will be notified directly of any change. For live figures, always check the Establishment Portal.