Headcount Information

The 2026 Spring Term early year’s headcount day is Thursday the 15th Jan 2026. The Headcount data is now done using the Early Years Provider Portal by the PVIs and childminders. The deadline to send your completed Headcount(via Provider Portal) is on Friday the 23rd Jan 2026. If you have any queries please contact the relevant person at the Local authority.

The eligible DOB's for Under 2s, 2 ,3 and 4 Year Old funding for Spring 2026 are as follows

• a  9 month old up to 23 months has a date of birth between 01-01-2024 and 31-03-2025.
• a 2-year-old has a date of birth between 01-01-2023 and 31-12-2023.
• a 3-year-old has a date of birth between 01-01-2022 and 31-12-2022.
• a 4-year-old has a date of birth between 01-01-2021 and 31-12-2021.

Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP)

 To be eligible for EYPP a child must:

• Receive free early education. They do not have to take up the full 570 hours of early education that they are entitled to.
• Have a DOB of within the range of 01 January 2021 to 31 March 2025.
• Meet at least one of the criteria’s as specified in the Eligibility Criteria document

Only the Maintained School Nurseries will be sent an Initial EYPP list by start of January 2026. The deadline to return the updated Spring EYPP spreadsheets for School Nurseries is the 23rd January 2026. Please refer to the Guidance document for instructions on how to complete and return the spreadsheet to the local authority.

Early Years Providers and childminders who wish to claim EYPP for their pupils, will enter the carer details (Surname, Name, DOB and NINO ) with the headcount which would then be run against ECS and results for EYPP will be sent via a Provider portal EYPP Report.

A child eligible for EYPP does not automatically imply Free school Meal eligibility.

A nursery child who is attending a school setting or maintained nursery all day and if the parents are in receipt of one of the qualifying benefits for free school meals or EYPP then the child will be eligible for Free school meals. For this, the check needs to be done separately and application sent in the FSM template.

Free school meals

If you have any questions concerning EYPP please contact Halak Nanavaty on 07917521328 or Halak.Nanavaty@Wokingham.gov.uk