A reimbursement for eligible working parents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the difference in the costs of Early Years childcare hours, matching the 'free' (Government funded) childcare hours they would be entitled to if assigned to England.
Eligibility check:
What is this for?
Our Armed Forces can be assigned to anywhere in the world. From September 2026, this scheme will ensure that should the assignment be in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, Defence will reimburse eligible working families the difference in the costs of Early Years childcare hours, matching the 'free' (Government funded) childcare hours they would be entitled to if assigned to England.
UKNA does not provide childcare spaces.
What do I get?
Eligible working families can claim a reimbursement for up to 30 hours per week, per child for 38 weeks per year. If you use more than 30 hours per week, for more than 38 weeks per year, you will be responsible for the cost of those hours.
The number of hours that can be claimed via the UKNA reimbursement scheme differs between locations because the Government offers in those locations differ:
For children aged between 9 months and 2 years old, eligible families in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can claim up to 30 hours per week for 38 weeks per year.
In Northern Ireland, families with children aged 3 can claim up to 30 hours weekly for 38 weeks, while those with 4-year-olds can claim up to 17.5 hours per week for 38 weeks per year.
If you already receive free early years childcare hours from the Government in your location (Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland), Defence will reimburse you for the cost of extra hours to make the maximum number of funded hours that you will receive up to 30 hours per week. E.g. if you receive 12.5 hours per week for your child, Defence will reimburse you for the cost of 17.5 hours per week for 38 weeks per year.
UKNA is a reimbursement for childcare costs, it is deemed an extra income which makes it a ‘taxable benefit’ by HMRC. To offset this, Defence pays extra to cover any tax and National Insurance (NI) payments you may incur when making UKNA claims – this is called grossing up. This process can have a knock-on effect on your individual tax and NI allowance and brackets.
Typically, eligibility to claim UKNA starts at the beginning of the term that the registration is approved (August/September, January and April.) This is subject to your family meeting the eligibility criteria at that time. If eligibility criteria are only met mid-term, claims can be submitted from the registration approval date. If families move mid-term from England to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, once registration is approved, eligibility to claim will be from the date that the English funding ceased, but can also be no earlier than the date that the child commenced childcare in the Devolved Government area subject to meeting the eligibility criteria at the time.
An active TFC account must be in place for each child before the UKNA registration can be completed. Active means that you reconfirm your account with HMRC every 3 months and receive the 20% top up from HMRC when you add money into the TFC account.
This information will be published prior to the scheme launch from September 2026. We are still working on finalising these things and will get the information to you as soon as we can.
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Submit UKNA claim
This information will be published prior to the scheme launch from September 2026. We are still working on finalising these things and will get the information to you as soon as we can.
