Help with childcare costs
It may be possible for you to get financial help with your childcare costs.
Are you eligible?
In order to be eligible you must normally be:
- a part-time Home/EU undergraduate or postgraduate student (check our residence requirements if you're not sure whether you are a Home student)
- eligible for hardship funding (e.g. Access Learning Fund or Birkbeck College Award)
- a single parent
- in receipt of Child Benefit
Please note we can only provide childcare costs for the times you attend college for classes.
Financial support is not normally given to couples. If you have a partner, we expect you to manage the childcare arrangements between you, unless there are exceptional circumstances. If you are not sure, please contact the Student Financial Support Office for advice.
Please note if you are studying a full-time undergraduate course, this information does not apply to you. For information on childcare grant and other help for full time students with children please click here.
How do you apply?
Please contact the Student Financial Support Office for advice and for an application form.
You should identify your childcare provider as early as possible, as they will need to sign application form and confirm the childcare costs.
Supporting documents required
- Evidence of income (Photocopy of P60 or documentation to confirm that you are currently in receipt of Benefits).
- Photocopy of recent child benefit letter stating name/s of child/ren.
What happens once you apply?
Once we receive your application form, we will notify you if funding for childcare has been agreed. We will also tell you the upper limit available to you for the current academic year (we do not guarantee to cover costs in full but aim to make a significant contribution towards the costs incurred). Please note, in light of the significantly higher cost of registered childcare, the cap for non registered childcare providers is lower than for that registered.
Payments are processed three times a year, once per term. You will be asked to provide detailed receipts from your childcare provider: these should include the hourly rate, and dates and times child/ren were in care. Please make sure all receipts are dated and signed by your childcare provider.
Deadlines
The deadline for submission of childcare applications is:
- 1st December 2011: for courses starting in October 2011.
- 1st March 2012: for courses starting in January 2012.
Childcare providers
- Birkbeck’s evening nursery is available for both employees and students and accepts children between 2 and 10 years old.
- If you would like help finding a registered childcare provider please see the direct gov website.
- If you are not able to find a registered childcare provider for the times you attend College, it might be possible to fund informal childcare provision instead. Please contact the Student Financial Support Office for advice.
- Where students have high childcare costs it is expected that they will apply for external sources of funding. The publications listed below may be available at either the Birkbeck library or your local reference library.
- Educational Grants Directory
- The Grants Register
- Charities Digest
- The Directory of Grant Making Trusts
- Advice from EGAS should also be sought.
