NHS Childcare Cost Calculator
Work out your NHS take-home pay after childcare, and compare funded hours, Tax-Free Childcare, childcare vouchers and a workplace nursery on your own fees and shifts. Free, and built for rotas, long days and school holidays.
Part of our NHS Childcare & Working Parents hub. Not sure what you qualify for? Read Tax-Free Childcare for NHS Staff Explained. Last updated October 2026.
Your pay
Full time is 37.5. Pay is pro-rated for part-time hours. Unsocial hours enhancements are not included.
Your childcare
Nursery, childminder or wraparound fees combined for the whole year, before any support. Use the shift builder to include funded hours.
Support you can use
Tax-Free Childcare's cap is £4,000 a year for a disabled child instead of £2,000. Check the qualifying conditions on GOV.UK.
Your answers are saved in this browser only (nothing is sent to us), so they are still here if you pay and come back.
Back to your resultBased on Band 5, point 2, 37.5 hours a week and £14,000 a year of childcare. Change your details
Net income after childcare
£1,244 a month
£14,928.93 a year, using tax-free childcare, the cheapest route you have ticked.
Childcare takes about 43% of your take-home after support (54% before). Switch to the shift builder to include funded hours, school holidays and extra cover.
Is changing your hours to save on childcare worth it?
Pro tests other working patterns against the same support routes, and shows where an extra shift stops paying for itself.
Your weakest step, worked out for you
On your band and fees, going from 30h to 32.5h a week adds only Locked until you unlock this tool a month after childcare.
£9.99 one-off
One-off payment for 6 months of access. Not a subscription, so nothing renews and nothing is taken later. The net income result, the shift cost builder, the ways-to-pay comparison and the share link stay free.
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What Childcare Cost Calculator Pro adds
- Break-even hours chart: net income after childcare from 15 to 37.5 hours a week, with your weakest step highlighted
- Up to 3 working patterns side by side, each with its own band, hours and childcare cost
- Each pattern uses the cheapest support route you ticked, so the comparison is like for like
- A printable PDF report to share with a partner or keep for budgeting
Use the same email to sign in afterwards and your access is linked automatically. Your answers are kept on this device so you come straight back to your results. Or get every tool for £54.99 a quarter or £119 a year: see all plans. Our editorial policy explains how we source our figures.
Ways to pay, compared
Each route against your own fees. Routes you have not ticked are left out.
| Route | You pay a year | Saving | Net income a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| No support | £14,000 | None | £1,011 |
| Tax-Free ChildcareLowest | £11,200 | £2,800 | £1,244 |
- Tax-Free Childcare: 20% top-up on what you spend, capped per child.
- Tax-Free Childcare is capped per child, so the cap is worked out across 2 children on the assumption that fees are split evenly between them.
Universal Credit can cover up to 85% of registered childcare costs to a maximum of £1,836 a month for two or more children (from April 2026), but it depends on your whole household's income and cannot be combined with Tax-Free Childcare. It is not included above. Read our Universal Credit childcare guide and check a benefits calculator.
Not sure what applies? NHS childcare and working parents hub. Rules from GOV.UK help with childcare costs.
Next step
Planning around maternity leave first?
See your NHS maternity pay week by week, with take-home after tax and the dates that matter, before you budget for childcare.
Open the Maternity Pay CalculatorShort answer
For a full-time Band 5 on pay point 2 in England (£26,129 a year take-home, pension included) with two children in paid childcare costing £14,000 a year, Tax-Free Childcare adds a £2,800 top-up, so childcare costs £11,200 and you keep £1,244 a month after childcare. In England, funded hours (up to 30 a week for 38 weeks a year for working parents) can cut the fees first, and the calculator also compares existing childcare vouchers and a workplace nursery.
Funded hours for NHS staff in England: what you can get
Funded hours come off your fees before any other support, so they are the first thing the calculator applies. These are the GOV.UK rules for England:
| Child's age | Hours a week | Who qualifies |
|---|---|---|
| Under 9 months | None | Not covered by the funded hours schemes |
| 9 months to 2 years | 30 | Working parents who pass the earnings test |
| 3 to 4 years | 15 for everyone, 30 for working parents | 15 hours universal; 30 hours if you and any partner pass the earnings test |
| School age | None | Funded hours stop when your child starts reception |
The hours are for 38 weeks a year (you may be able to stretch them across more weeks at fewer hours if your provider offers it). To get the 30 hours, you (and any partner) must be working, expect to earn at least £2,643.68 over 3 months (£203.36 a week) if you are 21 or over, and neither can have adjusted net income over £100,000. Being on maternity, paternity, shared parental or adoption leave still counts as working. You apply through a childcare account and reconfirm every three months. Providers can charge for meals, nappies and extra hours.
Childcare costs on shifts: a worked example with long days
Here is the shift builder run on illustrative fees (use your own): a 3 to 4 year old at nursery three days a week and a toddler two days a week, both at £70 a day for a 10-hour day, 50 weeks a year, in England with both parents working. Fees come to £17,500 a year, and funded hours are worth about £13,300 of that because the 30 funded hours cover all 30 weekly hours of the older child and all 20 of the toddler's, for 38 of the 50 weeks.
| Route | You pay a year | Saving |
|---|---|---|
| No support | £17,500 | None |
| Funded hours | £4,200 | £13,300 |
| Tax-Free Childcare | £14,000 | £3,500 |
| Funded hours plus Tax-Free Childcare | £3,360 | £14,140 |
With funded hours and Tax-Free Childcare together, a full-time Band 5 on point 2 keeps about £1,897 a month after childcare. Funded hours are usually the biggest lever for children aged 9 months to 4, which is why the free tool asks for the child's age.
School holidays, wraparound care and cover for nights
School-age costs are often hidden in the term-time-and-holiday split. For two school-age children with a breakfast and after-school club three days a week at £12 a child a day for 39 weeks, six weeks of holiday club three days a week at £40 a child a day, and six hours a week of paid cover at £14 an hour for 46 weeks for early and late shifts, the builder gives:
| Item | Per year |
|---|---|
| Breakfast and after-school clubs | £2,808 |
| Holiday clubs | £1,440 |
| Paid cover for early, late and night shifts | £3,864 |
| Total before support | £8,112 |
Those fees are illustrative. The point is the shape: holiday weeks and shift cover can add up to more than term-time clubs. For ideas on covering them see our guides on school holidays and rota planning, finding childcare for nights and weekends and childcare on 12-hour shifts. Tax-Free Childcare can be used for registered breakfast, after-school and holiday clubs, but not for informal care from relatives unless they are a registered childminder who looks after the child outside your home.
Tax-Free Childcare vs childcare vouchers vs workplace nursery
Three routes can reduce what you pay out of pocket, and the right one depends on your pay, your fees and what your trust offers.
| Tax-Free Childcare | Childcare vouchers | Workplace nursery | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who can join | Working parents, nobody over £100,000 adjusted net income | Only people already in a scheme on or before 4 October 2018 | Staff at a trust that genuinely finances and manages a nursery |
| How it saves | Government adds £2 for every £8 you pay in (20% of the total) | Salary sacrifice avoids Income Tax and National Insurance on a capped amount | Whole fee exempt from Income Tax and employee National Insurance |
| Limit | £2,000 a year per child (£4,000 disabled) | £55 a week basic rate, £28 higher, £25 additional (£55 if joined before 6 April 2011) | No cap |
| Can combine with | Funded hours; not vouchers or Universal Credit | Funded hours; not Tax-Free Childcare | Check with your employer |
Sources: GOV.UK Tax-Free Childcare, GOV.UK free childcare for working parents, and HMRC's employer-supported childcare guidance. Here is the same £10,000 annual bill for one child, with every route switched on, at different pay points:
| Pay point | Tax-Free Childcare | Vouchers (existing members) | Workplace nursery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band 5, entry point (£32,073) | saves £2,000 | saves £801 | saves £2,800 |
| Band 7, entry point (£49,387) | saves £2,000 | saves £801 | saves £2,800 |
| Band 8a, entry point (£57,528) | saves £2,000 | saves £612 | saves £3,816 |
| Band 8c, entry point (£79,504) | saves £2,000 | saves £612 | saves £4,200 |
Vouchers and workplace nursery savings are Income Tax and employee National Insurance only, worked out with this site's tax engine. They ignore the effect on NHS Pension benefits, student loans and statutory pay. Our workplace nursery guide explains the HMRC test for a genuine scheme.
NHS childcare vouchers: can you still get them?
No new members have been accepted since 4 October 2018. If you joined before then and have stayed with the same employer, you can usually continue, but you cannot use Tax-Free Childcare at the same time, and employers must stop vouchers if you tell them you have started using Tax-Free Childcare. You can restart within 52 weeks of stopping if you are still with the same employer and have not told them you are leaving the scheme. Whether to switch depends on your numbers, so tick the voucher box in the calculator to compare them. Read more in Tax-Free Childcare for NHS staff explained.
How the Tax-Free Childcare cap works
The government tops up a maximum of £2,000 per child per year (£4,000 if the child is disabled), paid as up to £500 every three months. That is reached once you have paid in £8,000 of your own money for a child, which is £10,000 of total spend. For one child with £20,000 of fees, 20% would be £4,000 but the top-up is capped at £2,000. The calculator applies the cap across all your children on the assumption that fees are split evenly between them.
| Children in paid childcare | Maximum annual top-up |
|---|---|
| 1 | £2,000 |
| 2 | £4,000 |
| 3 | £6,000 |
Worked example: the reference case, step by step
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| NHS take-home pay (annual) | £26,128.93 |
| NHS take-home pay (monthly) | £2,177.41 |
| Total annual childcare cost | £14,000 |
| Tax-Free Childcare top-up (20%, two children) | + £2,800 |
| Net annual childcare cost after top-up | £11,200 |
| Net income after childcare (annual) | £14,928.93 |
| Net income after childcare (monthly) | £1,244.08 |
Free childcare for NHS workers: what actually exists
There is no separate national free childcare entitlement for NHS staff. The help that exists is the same as for other working parents: funded hours for children aged 9 months to 4 in England, Tax-Free Childcare, Universal Credit for lower-income households, and, at some trusts, a workplace nursery or salary sacrifice scheme. Your trust's HR or staff benefits page will say whether it has a nursery or a discount scheme, and only a nursery your employer genuinely finances and manages gets the tax and National Insurance exemption.
Eligibility checks that catch NHS households out
- ✓ The £100,000 cliff edge. If you or your partner has adjusted net income over £100,000, Tax-Free Childcare and free childcare for working parents both stop for the whole household. Adjusted net income is not just salary, so check yours on GOV.UK.
- ✓ Universal Credit and Tax-Free Childcare are exclusive. You cannot claim both, and Universal Credit can pay back up to 85% of costs to £1,071 a month for one child or £1,836 for two or more (from April 2026), but only if your household qualifies.
- ✓ Registered providers only. The nursery, childminder or club must be registered and signed up to the scheme, and informal care from family generally does not qualify.
- ✓ Reconfirm every three months. Tax-Free Childcare and funded hours stop if you do not sign in to confirm your details.
- ✓ Parental leave counts as working. Maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption leave generally still count for Tax-Free Childcare and funded hours, so you can set childcare up before you return.
⚠Sources, method and what this tool does not do
Rules checked on GOV.UK in October 2026: Tax-Free Childcare, free childcare for working parents, help with childcare costs, employer-supported childcare and Universal Credit childcare costs. Take-home pay comes from the same 2026/27 engine as our NHS Pay Calculator, at your basic pay with no unsocial hours or overtime. It does not model Universal Credit, legacy tax credits, funded hours schemes in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, or the quarterly timing of the Tax-Free Childcare cap, and it takes your word on eligibility. See our editorial policy for how we source figures. This is a planning aid, not financial or benefits advice, and FrontlinePay is independent of the NHS, HMRC and the DWP.
Comparing working patterns: what Pro adds
The free tool answers what childcare costs on your current pattern. Pro answers the next question: would dropping to 0.8 FTE, going bank-only or changing band leave the household better off? It compares up to three patterns side by side, each with its own hours and fees and the cheapest support route you ticked, and adds a break-even hours chart showing where an extra shift stops paying for itself. If you are planning around maternity leave first, see the NHS Maternity Pay Calculator, and for the pay side of a rota change use the Rota Take-Home Calculator.
Why trust this calculator
- ✓ Take-home pay comes from the same verified NHS pay engine as our NHS Pay Calculator, not a separate estimate
- ✓ Funded hours, Tax-Free Childcare, voucher and workplace nursery rules are taken from GOV.UK and HMRC guidance, with the sources listed
- ✓ It never claims to check your eligibility: it flags the £100,000 limit and the earnings test, then points you to GOV.UK
- ✓ Nothing is pre-filled in the shift builder, so the figures come from your own provider's fees rather than a national average
- ✓ Your answers are calculated in your browser and saved only on your own device
Free download: 2026/27 Agenda for Change pay scales
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Related guides and tools
NHS Childcare & Working Parents hub
Every childcare guide for NHS shift workers.
Tax-Free Childcare for NHS staff
The 20% top-up, eligibility and the £100k cliff edge.
Workplace nursery schemes and salary sacrifice
The HMRC test for a genuine scheme.
Childcare costs by age
What to expect as your child grows.
Universal Credit childcare element
The 85% rule and who it helps.
Childcare on a part-time NHS contract
Compressed hours and the pitfalls a full-time guide misses.
Maternity Pay Calculator
Your pay on leave, with take-home after tax.
NHS Pay Calculator
The take-home engine behind this tool.
Rota Take-Home Calculator
What your pattern pays after enhancements.