Delivering funded early education places

How to deliver funded places

To deliver funded early education places, you must:

  • Be on the Ofsted Early Years Register. Childminders also have the option of registering with a Childminder Agency
  • Be a part of Trafford’s Directory of Early Education Providers 

All early years funding is administered using an online portal. Providers must ensure they can access our Education Portal.

Funding you can deliver

Your Ofsted grade determines the type of funding you can deliver.

Ofsted rating Funded places you can deliver
Outstanding All early years entitlements
Good All early years entitlements
Requires improvement All early years entitlements, except 2-year-old funding for disadvantaged children
Inadequate Unable to deliver funded places

Join the Trafford Directory

To join the directory, you must read our provider agreement and complete an online declaration form.

You must also read and be familiar with the government's statutory guidance before completing the form. 

Declaration forms

Leaving the directory

To leave the directory, email early.education@trafford.gov.uk. You can leave the directory at any time.

There is a funding withdrawal process for providers judged as inadequate or requiring improvement by Ofsted. Providers have a right of appeal against the decision to withdraw funding.

Next steps

When your provider agreement has been processed, our team will email you. They will also tell you the type of early years places you can deliver. 

You will be unable to deliver funded places until you complete the following steps. 

1. Access the portal

All early education funding is administered through our Education Portal. You must have access to the portal to deliver funded places.

  1. To access the portal, complete the online portal access form. You will receive an email when this has been processed.
  2. Register as a 'new user' on The Education Portal. You can then log in and start to use the system.

2. Verify your bank details

For payment to be made for the hours you deliver, your bank details are required.

  1. Complete the data verification form.
  2. We will contact you by phone to verify your bank details.
  3. Your form will be processed, and you will be able to receive payments.

3. Have an introductory business support session

After your agreement is processed and you have completed the previous steps, we will set up an introductory phone call with a member of our team.

This is to ensure you understand the funding process and to answer any queries you may have.

4. Keep the directory up to date

As a registered provider, you will now appear on the Trafford Directory. 

If you have not already done so, log in to the directory and make sure your record is up to date. If you have any queries about the directory, contact Trafford’s Family Information Service by emailing FIS@trafford.gov.uk