Funding application process

Any Private, Voluntary, Independent and School providers based in Worcestershire who offer Early Years provision who are not currently judged as Inadequate or Requires Improvement by Ofsted are able to apply for a ‘top up’ to their GR funding. 

Please read the inclusion supplement funding criteria which is available in the ‘Early Years Inclusion Supplement Funding Criteria’ section.

Inclusion supplement applications are only required for:

• 0 to 5 non-NEF – for children who are not yet accessing their NEF due to their age 
• Challenge to GR4 – where a child is in receipt of GR4 but the provider wishes to request a ‘top up’ based on the child’s needs and one to one staffing requirements throughout the majority of the sessions.
• Exceptional Early Years Funding - for complex children who meet specific criteria 

Inclusion supplement applications

0 to 5 Non NEF 

Inclusion supplement funding is available for children not in receipt of nursery Education Funding (NEF):

• children 0-3 and not receiving NEF

This application needs to be completed once a term and requires a termly monitoring form. 

Submit a Termly '0-3 NON-NEF' Inclusion Supplement Application
 

GR4 + Challenge / Exceptional Funding 

The ‘top up’ funding is in addition to the Graduated Response (GR) levels that practitioners can allocate to children in receipt of Nursery Education Funding (NEF) on the Provider Portal.

This application needs to be completed once an academic year and requires a termly monitoring form. 

‘Top Up’ funding includes:

• GR4 challenge funding - where a child is in receipt of GR4 but the provider wishes to request a ‘top up’ based on the child’s needs and one to one staffing requirements throughout the majority of the sessions.
• Exceptional funding - for complex children who meet specific criteria (which can be found in the funding criteria)

Academic Year 24 to 25 Inclusion Supplement 'Top up' Applications- Early Years provisions
 

Holiday and out of school Inclusion Supplement Funding Applications

This grant is to enable the inclusion of children with additional needs and/or disabilities in out of school and holiday settings.

It is designed to provide financial support to increase staffing ratios in the setting to meet children's needs.

This includes:

• children under 5 who are attending holiday provision (and who do not receive stretched NEF funding)
• children over 5 who attend out of school or holiday provision and have an EHCP

Provider must not be currently judged Inadequate or Requires Improvement by Ofsted.

Holiday and Out of School Inclusion Supplement Funding Application