Record each child on JPA.
The ‘certificate verified box’ must state ‘yes’.
Primary School Aged Childcare Overseas (PSACO) Allowance
Get funding for the cost of up to 20 hours of before and after school childcare for your 4-11-year-old (4-16-year-old children if in receipt of certain UK disability benefits), in overseas locations where due to local rules and regulations the Wraparound Childcare (WAC) Allowance eligibility criteria cannot be met, or because Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) accounts are not available.
Eligibility check:
Am I eligible?
The Primary School Aged Childcare Overseas (PSACO) Allowance is available to Regular and FTRS (all commitment types) Service personnel with family residing in an overseas location where local rules and regulations prevent the Service parent from claiming the Wraparound Childcare (WAC) Allowance.
Disabled children who are in receipt of Disability living allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Armed Forces Independence Payment or are certified blind or severely sight impaired, may be able to claim double the amount of funding.
More details can be found in the PSACO eligibility criteria document.
What is this for?
The PSACO Allowance is the final phase of the WAC scheme and provides funding for before and after school childcare in overseas locations where due to local rules or regulations, it is not possible for WAC eligibility criteria to be met, or because Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) accounts are not available.
What do I get?
You will be able to claim up to 20 hours of PSACO funding per week, per child, for 39 weeks of the year (in a 52-week rolling period), during term time. On average you could save around £3,400 per child, per year.
To find out how much you will be able to claim, use the PSACO Benefits Calculator at the bottom of this page. The rate is based on the average rate for England adjusted to add the Local Overseas Allowance (LOA) formula for each location.
Which childcare providers can I use?
The childcare provider may be run by private companies, nurseries, schools, sports and youth clubs, voluntary organisations such as charities, or may be a childminder or nanny. The scheme cannot be used for informal childcare, such as grandparents, friends and babysitters.
The PSACO Allowance can be claimed for the costs of before and after school childcare when using host nation childcare providers that are registered, regulated and inspected by host nation authorities. In locations where Defence Children Services (DCS) provide before and after school childcare, where spaces are available the PSACO Allowance can be used to claim the costs when using a DCS provider.
How do Service families claim the PSACO Allowance?
To benefit from the scheme, you must complete the following steps in sequential order.
1
Record on JPA
2
3
Register each child
Register each child and add your childcare provider on JPA - in the 'My child allowances: WAC' section.
Detailed step-by-step guidance can be found on the Defence Childcare Information Page on defnet and Defence Connect (Service personnel access only).
Wait until the registration status of your child shows as 'registered' before continuing to step 4. WAC funding can only be claimed for childcare used from the effective date shown on the WAC registration.
4
Claim
Claim up to 20 hours per week, per child during term time (39 weeks per year). To do this, add the invoice information into JPA - in the 'My child allowances: WAC' section. Detailed step-by-step guidance can be found on the Defence Childcare Information Page on defnet and Defence Connect (Service personnel access only).
For more information
For more information about the PSACO Allowance in general read:
For detailed policy information search ‘PSACO Allowance’ at DINs Search (defnet) or Group: Defence Instruction Notices - DIN's | Defence Connect. (Service personnel only)
Still have a question? Contact the policy team: PEOPLE-AFFS-WAC-FRO-mailbox@mod.gov.uk
Primary school aged childcare overseas allowance calculator
Find out the maximum you could claim back for primary school aged childcare costs, if you are eligible, for the PSACO scheme by answering the following questions. These are the rates from the start of the winter term 2026.
Page last updated: 22 December 2025