Nursery places for 2 year olds
Apply to nursery for a 2 year old and find out if your child qualifies for a funded place.
Qualifying for a funded nursery place
Your child may get a funded nursery place if you receive some benefits or meet certain criteria.
If your child qualifies for a funded place, you get up to 1140 hours of nursery care a year from August 2025.
Within our family centres, this works out at:
- 23 hours and 45 minutes per week over 48 weeks, or;-
- 30 hours per week over 38 weeks term time
Funded providers like private nurseries and childminders may be able to offer more flexible ways to use these hours.
You may be entitled to a funded place If you receive any of the following benefits
- Universal Credit, where your monthly household take-home pay is £850 or less.
- Income support
- Income-based Job Seeker's Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Incapacity Benefit
- Severe Disablement Allowance
- State Pension Credit
- Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (Support for Asylum Seekers)
We'll ask you to provide proof of your benefits so that we know that you're eligible. This should be included with your application form.
You may also qualify if you meant any of the following criteria:
- The child is looked after. This includes under a kinship care order or with a parent appointed guardian
- A need is identified (allocated through Early Years Intervention Group)
- You have older children who get free school meals you may also qualify for a funded nursery place if you have a 2 year old
Your child should start in the term following their 2nd birthday. The nursery will confirm this date nearer your child's birthday.
| Birthday | Start date |
| 1 March to 31 August | August term |
| 1 September to 31 December | January term |
| 1 January to end February | April term |
| Group | Details | Free place |
|---|---|---|
1 |
| Yes |
| 2 | East Renfrewshire children who don't qualify under priority 1 | Applications are now closed for priority group 2 |
| 3 | Children who don't live in East Renfrewshire | Applications are now closed for priority group 3 |
We have 7 Early Learning and Childcare settings which provide early learning and childcare for 2 year olds.
- Arthurlie Family Centre
- Cart Mill Family Centre
- Glen Family Centre
- Isobel Mair Family Centre (children with additional support needs only)
- Madras Family Centre
- McCready Family Centre
We work in partnership with some private and voluntary nurseries and childminders. You will need to make direct contract with a provider to check availability before completing an application form..
You can apply 12 weeks before your child turns 2.
You must apply using the address that you currently live at. If you're due to move house in the near future you must supply evidence of this and your placement may be allocated on a provisional basis. You may need to supply further evidence before your child begins their placement.
If you live at a care of (c/o) address you must provide evidence of this. A c/o address means you're living with friends or family on a temporary or long term basis. For example, you're not the homeowner or registered tenant.
We'll assess your application against admissions criteria.
As places for 2 year olds are limited we allocate places in line with priority groups.
If you're applying for a paid place you may also wish to consider applying directly to a childminder or private nursery who may be able to accommodate your child, each provider will have their own daily/hourly rate.
We'll write to you to tell you if we can offer you a nursery place.
If we can, we'll ask you to take these documents to the nursery:
- Proof of child's age
- Proof of current address
You can apply for a chargeable nursery place but places are very limited and we may not be able to offer your child a placement.
Read the ELC Chargeable hours contract - terms and conditions (PDF, 100 KB)
