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Wraparound Childcare

Get funding for the cost of up to 20 hours of before and after school care for your 4 to 11-year-old children (4-16 year old children if in receipt of certain disability allowances).

    Eligibility check:

    Wraparound Childcare

    Get funding for the cost of up to 20 hours of before and after school care for your 4 to 11-year-old children (4-16 year old children if in receipt of certain disability allowances).

    Calculate this benefit worth

    See how much you save by answering a few more questions.

    Am I eligible?

    Wraparound Childcare is available to Regular Service personnel and FTRS (Full Commitment), (Limited Commitment) and (Home Commitment), who are assigned either within the UK, assigned overseas within the European Economic Area and Switzerland (EEA&S), assigned overseas using a Defence Children Services (DCS) childcare provider or assigned unaccompanied in other overseas locations with family remaining in the UK.

    Disabled children who are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Armed Forces Independence Payment, or are certified as blind or severely sight-impaired, may be able to claim double the amount of funding.

    More detailed information can be found in the WAC eligibility criteria document, WAC UK and WAC Overseas.

    What is this for? 

    Defence recognises that Service parents face additional difficulties when trying to access good quality, enriching and appropriate childcare for their children. The Wraparound Childcare (WAC) scheme is designed to assist working families with the cost of before and after school childcare and to allow partners to get back into work (or work more hours).

    What do I get?

    You will be able to claim up to 20 hours of WAC funding per week for each child, for 39 weeks of the year, during term time. On average, your family could save up to £3,400 per child, per year.

    To find out how much you will be able to claim, use the WAC Benefits Calculator at the bottom of this page. The rates are based on the regional average costs included in the Coram (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland Childcare Surveys. WAC Overseas rates are based on the average rate for England.

    Which childcare providers can I use?

    The childcare provider may be run by private companies, nurseries, schools, sports and youth clubs, voluntary organisations such as charities, or may be a childminder or nanny. The scheme cannot be used for informal childcare, such as grandparents, friends and babysitters.

    Providers must be either:

    • Located in the UK, must be OFSTED registered (or equivalent) and accept Tax Free Childcare (TFC) payments.

    • DCS childcare settings which accept TFC payments.

    • Overseas (EEA&S) host nation providers that are registered, regulated and inspected by host nation authorities.

    How do Service families claim Wraparound Childcare funding?

    To benefit from the WAC scheme, you must complete the five steps below in sequential order.

  • 1

    Record on JPA

    • Record each child on JPA.

    • The 'certificate verified' box must state 'yes'.

  • 2

    Check if you meet the eligibility criteria

  • 3

    Apply for TFC account

    • An active TFC account must be in place for each child before the WAC 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 (for UK or DCS providers overseas), or when you use the manual TFC claim process for host nation providers within the EEA&S.

    • Apply for a TFC account for each child on GOV.UK. Wait until the TFC account is activated and you have your account number. A TFC account is not WAC registration. 

  • 4

    Register each child

    For WAC UK:

    • Register each child and add your childcare provider on JPA - in the 'My child allowances: WAC' section.

    • Detailed step-by-step guidance can be found at step-by-step registration guide (only accessible on defnet).

    • Wait until the registration status of your child shows as 'registered' before continuing to step 5. WAC funding can only be claimed for childcare used from the effective date shown on the WAC registration.

    For WAC Overseas:

    • Register each child by completing the WAC Overseas registration form, link available from your Unit HR.

    • Detailed step-by-step guidance is available from your unit HR.

    • Wait until you receive a WAC registration confirmation email including your child's unique WAC Overseas reference number before continuing to step 5. WAC funding can only be claimed for childcare used from the date shown in the WAC registration confirmation email.

  • 5

    Claim

    For WAC UK:

    • Claim up to 20 hours per week, per child during term time (39 weeks per year). You can do this by adding the invoice information into JPA - in the 'My child allowances: WAC' section. The step by step claim guide (only accessible on defnet) provides details instructions on how to do this.

    For WAC Overseas:

    • Claim up to 20 hours per week per child, during term time (39 weeks per year).

    On receipt of an invoice from a DCS childcare provider:

    • Parents pay their provider from their Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) account.

    • Once the invoice has been paid, Service personnel complete the WAC Overseas claims calculator, then complete a WAC Overseas claim in iExpenses following the step-by-step claims guide (only accessible on defnet).

    On receipt of an invoice from a host nation childcare provider:

    • Parents pay their provider.

    • Once the invoice has been paid, Service personnel, complete the WAC Overseas claims calculator, then complete a WAC Overseas claim in iExpenses following the step-by-step claims guide (only accessible on defnet).

    • Families using host nation childcare provision in overseas locations will need to complete the TFC manual process to claim the 20% top up from HMRC. Details on this process can be found in 2022DIN01-102-Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) Scheme for eligible working parents (Service personnel) (only accessible on defnet).

    • For more information

    For more information about WAC in general read:

    Still have a question? Contact the WAC team: People-AFFS-WAC-FRO-mailbox@mod.gov.uk.

    Am I eligible?

    Wraparound Childcare is available to Regular Service personnel and FTRS (Full Commitment), (Limited Commitment) and (Home Commitment), who are assigned either within the UK, assigned overseas within the European Economic Area and Switzerland (EEA&S), assigned overseas using a Defence Children Services (DCS) childcare provider or assigned unaccompanied in other overseas locations with family remaining in the UK.

    Disabled children who are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Armed Forces Independence Payment, or are certified as blind or severely sight-impaired, may be able to claim double the amount of funding.

    More detailed information can be found in the WAC eligibility criteria document, WAC UK and WAC Overseas.

    What is this for? 

    Defence recognises that Service parents face additional difficulties when trying to access good quality, enriching and appropriate childcare for their children. The Wraparound Childcare (WAC) scheme is designed to assist working families with the cost of before and after school childcare and to allow partners to get back into work (or work more hours).

    What do I get?

    You will be able to claim up to 20 hours of WAC funding per week for each child, for 39 weeks of the year, during term time. On average, your family could save up to £3,400 per child, per year.

    To find out how much you will be able to claim, use the WAC Benefits Calculator at the bottom of this page. The rates are based on the regional average costs included in the Coram (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland Childcare Surveys. WAC Overseas rates are based on the average rate for England.

    Which childcare providers can I use?

    The childcare provider may be run by private companies, nurseries, schools, sports and youth clubs, voluntary organisations such as charities, or may be a childminder or nanny. The scheme cannot be used for informal childcare, such as grandparents, friends and babysitters.

    Providers must be either:

    • Located in the UK, must be OFSTED registered (or equivalent) and accept Tax Free Childcare (TFC) payments.

    • DCS childcare settings which accept TFC payments.

    • Overseas (EEA&S) host nation providers that are registered, regulated and inspected by host nation authorities.

    How do Service families claim Wraparound Childcare funding?

    To benefit from the WAC scheme, you must complete the five steps below in sequential order.

  • 1

    Record on JPA

    • Record each child on JPA.

    • The 'certificate verified' box must state 'yes'.

  • 2

    Check if you meet the eligibility criteria

  • 3

    Apply for TFC account

    • An active TFC account must be in place for each child before the WAC 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 (for UK or DCS providers overseas), or when you use the manual TFC claim process for host nation providers within the EEA&S.

    • Apply for a TFC account for each child on GOV.UK. Wait until the TFC account is activated and you have your account number. A TFC account is not WAC registration. 

  • 4

    Register each child

    For WAC UK:

    • Register each child and add your childcare provider on JPA - in the 'My child allowances: WAC' section.

    • Detailed step-by-step guidance can be found at step-by-step registration guide (only accessible on defnet).

    • Wait until the registration status of your child shows as 'registered' before continuing to step 5. WAC funding can only be claimed for childcare used from the effective date shown on the WAC registration.

    For WAC Overseas:

    • Register each child by completing the WAC Overseas registration form, link available from your Unit HR.

    • Detailed step-by-step guidance is available from your unit HR.

    • Wait until you receive a WAC registration confirmation email including your child's unique WAC Overseas reference number before continuing to step 5. WAC funding can only be claimed for childcare used from the date shown in the WAC registration confirmation email.

  • 5

    Claim

    For WAC UK:

    • Claim up to 20 hours per week, per child during term time (39 weeks per year). You can do this by adding the invoice information into JPA - in the 'My child allowances: WAC' section. The step by step claim guide (only accessible on defnet) provides details instructions on how to do this.

    For WAC Overseas:

    • Claim up to 20 hours per week per child, during term time (39 weeks per year).

    On receipt of an invoice from a DCS childcare provider:

    • Parents pay their provider from their Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) account.

    • Once the invoice has been paid, Service personnel complete the WAC Overseas claims calculator, then complete a WAC Overseas claim in iExpenses following the step-by-step claims guide (only accessible on defnet).

    On receipt of an invoice from a host nation childcare provider:

    • Parents pay their provider.

    • Once the invoice has been paid, Service personnel, complete the WAC Overseas claims calculator, then complete a WAC Overseas claim in iExpenses following the step-by-step claims guide (only accessible on defnet).

    • Families using host nation childcare provision in overseas locations will need to complete the TFC manual process to claim the 20% top up from HMRC. Details on this process can be found in 2022DIN01-102-Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) Scheme for eligible working parents (Service personnel) (only accessible on defnet).

    • For more information

    For more information about WAC in general read:

    Still have a question? Contact the WAC team: People-AFFS-WAC-FRO-mailbox@mod.gov.uk.

    Wraparound childcare calculator

    Find out the maximum you could claim back for wraparound childcare costs, if you are eligible, for the WAC scheme by answering the following questions. These are the rates from the start of the autumn term 2024.

    Page last updated: 7 January 2025

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    Need more information?

  • defnet access only

    Defence Childcare Information page (defnet)

    Visit the Defence Childcare Information Page to read the WAC DIN and further useful information and guidance.

  • Defence Gateway

    Defence Childcare Information page (Def Gateway)

    Visit the Defence Childcare Information Page to read the WAC DIN and and further useful information and guidance.

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