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Capital Funding for School Based Nurseries – Phase 3 (2027 to 2030)

Information about the phase 3 funding for school-based nursery provision.

The Department for Education (DfE) has announced Phase 3 of funding for school-based nursery (SBN) provision. State-funded primary and first mainstream schools, Maintained Nursery Schools, as well as Best Start Family Hubs (BSFH) are able to express an interest to the Local Authority (LA) for capital funding to create or expand on-site Early Years provision. The new or expanded provision can be school-run or delivered by Early Years settings (Private, Voluntary or Independent (PVI) providers including childminders), offering places for any Early Years age group, in areas where there is local demand. 

Please read the DfE Guidance on the scheme:

Key information about Phase 3

The key information:

  • this phase is led by local authorities, who are invited to develop multi-year funding proposals that outline project plans for new or expanded SBNs
  • state-funded primary-age schools, Maintained Nursery Schools (MNS) continue to be eligible
  • Best Start Family Hubs (BSFH) are also now eligible
  • schools that were successful in phase 1 or phase 2 are eligible for phase 3 to add new places beyond what was delivered in earlier phases and that represent good value for money
  • Special Schools, Alternative Provision (AP) and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) are not eligible for phase 3
  • there is no cap on the amount of capital funding that local authorities can apply for per SBN project (expect the majority of schemes to cost no more than £1m), although projects must deliver good value for money
  • school sites with spare space or surplus accommodation should be considered
  • Local Authorities can combine other funding to deliver provision
  • the deadline for local authorities to submit funding proposals to the Department for Education (DfE) is 5:00pm on 30 September 2026
  • the DfE’s ranking criteria focuses on deprivation (FSM and IDACI) and value for money (cost per place)
  • proposals should respond to the local authority’s sufficiency needs - Childcare sufficiency

State-funded Primary and First mainstream schools and Maintained Nursery Schools

To apply for funding during phase 3, the provision is expected to be available between 2027 and 2030 and meet the eligibility criteria.

To apply for the funding, schools must have LA support. 

Please use the ‘Childcare termly Sufficiency Tables’ to determine if a proposal from your school-site would be considered. When looking at the Sufficiency Tables, you will need to look for the ward your school is located in and see if there are any ‘amber coloured cells’ (insufficient) for any of the age groups. We will not consider expansion for any settings in areas without sufficiency need. 

Eligibility check:

  • project aim: proposed project must result in a net increase in the number of childcare places, taking into account any existing provisions on site or nearby, including that delivered by external providers
  • project timeline: proposed projects must be operational and offering new childcare places by September 2030 at the latest
  • landowner permission: there is written permission from the relevant freehold landowner, for example, the local authority, foundation or trust, or religious body, to use the land for nursery provision and carry out the proposed works
  • project classification: the proposed project is either:
    • an SBN located on a state-funded first or primary-phase school site in England that already offer early education, such as reception classes
    • part of a Maintained Nursery School site
    • part of a Best Start Family Hub site, this can include both existing BSFHs, or those in the process of being set-up. It can also include those co-located on a school site as well as those not on a school site
  • previous SBN grant participation: if the proposed school received funding through the SBN capital grant funding 2024 to 2025 or SBN capital grant funding 2025 to 2026, the proposed project adds new places beyond what was delivered in earlier phases and offers good value for money

We are keen to hear from schools who maybe interested in:

  • opening new Early Years provision
  • expanding existing Early Year provision
  • working in partnership with a PVI setting to offer Early Years provision from your school site

If you are interested in being considered for the DfE for the School-Based Nursery Capital Grant Phase 3 (2027 to 2030), firstly please complete the:

Local Authority Expression of Interest form 

By Friday 17 April 2026 to enable the local authority to assess the immediate eligibility and sufficiency need.

An application form, with details of information required, will be sent to any schools that have completed the Expression of Interest.

In advance of receiving the application form, we would recommend that you contact your property agent to start discussions about the developments needed (Feasibility Study). 

The deadline for full applications is likely to be Friday 19 June 2026. 

Private, Voluntary and Independent sector

The School Based Nurseries – Phase 3 Grant, can be used to create provision on any state-funded first or primary school or Best Start Family Hub site. The provision can be offered by the school, a Private, Voluntary or Independent (PVI) setting or a combination of the two.

We are therefore keen to hear from PVI settings who may be interested in operating additional Early Years provision from a school site. Based on sufficiency need, we may also be able to consider expansion proposals from existing settings that already operate from a school site.

If you are interested in working in partnership with a school to propose opening new school-based provision and would like your contact details to be available for schools looking for partners, please complete the:

Expression of Interest, PVI form

If you are an existing setting and are interested in expanding, please review the Please use the ‘Childcare termly Sufficiency Tables', to determine if a proposal from your school-site would be considered. When looking at the Sufficiency Tables, you will need to look for your ward and see if there are any ‘amber coloured cells’ (insufficient) for any of the age groups. We will not consider expansion for any settings in areas without sufficiency need. Please complete the Expression of Interest form if you are interested in being considered and the sufficiency information indicates that there is a need.

Case studies

To support planning, DfE has published a set of case studies from schools that have successfully set up SBNs. These examples may offer helpful insights and practical ideas on what might work best for schools in your local authority:

We also have a video of schools presenting case studies about building and delivering their current SBN provision:

Additional case studies can be found at:

Contact information

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact: