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Disability Access Fund (DAF)

Disability access fund

If you provide free early education entitlement (FEEE) places for any three or four-year-olds who receive disability living allowance (DLA), your setting is eligible to receive disability access funding (DAF), which is £800 per child. This is a one-off payment paid to a provider on an annual basis (one payment per financial year). The payment can only be made to one provider and cannot be split so where a child received provision at more than one provider the parent will need to decide which setting will receive the DAF payment.

The purpose of the DAF is to help the childcare provider make reasonable adjustments at their setting to improve the child's access to free early education. It is paid directly to the childcare provider and they need to work with the parent to decide how it should be spent. The DAF cannot be used towards childcare fees or providing more FEEE hours.

The Disability access fund (link opens in new window) (DAF) offers funding to early years providers to support children with special educational needs and disability (SEND) by removing barriers which prevent children from accessing their free early education entitlement.

 

To claim this funding, a child must meet certain national criteria. Providers can claim the funding once the parent/carer has nominated them as the main provider of their child’s early education entitlement, and demonstrated their child is in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (link opens in new window).

3 and 4-year olds will be eligible for the Disability access fund if the child:

Note: Four-year olds in primary and infant school reception classes are NOT eligible for DAF funding. Children become eligible for free early education at different points in the year depending on when they turn 3.

More information can be found on GOV.UK - Disability access fund (DAF) (link opens in new window).

Other Details

Age Bands
Parents and carers
0-4 years old