08/10/2026
‼ELIGIBILITY CHECKING FOR 2 YEAR OLDS AND YOUR PROVIDER EY PORTAL ✅
Staffordshire County Council has a statutory duty to fund 2 year olds under the ‘early learning for 2 year olds funding entitlement’ (known as Think2 in Staffordshire).
✅To meet this duty, Staffordshire County Council will run eligibility checks for children who are currently claiming working parent entitlements, to check if they are also entitled to Think2. (Some children are eligible for both at the same time).
✅Parents who are identified as eligible for working parent entitlements AND Think2 will have the first 15 hours of funding allocated to Think2 and the remaining 15 hours allocated to the working parent entitlement, totalling 30 hours.
‼Early Years Providers may notice this change on their Early Years Portal funding screen.
⚠Please do not amend this as our eligibility checks have verified that the parents are entitled to both Think2 and the working parent entitlement. This will remain in place until children become eligible for the universal entitlement for 3 year olds.⚠
Parents do not need to reconfirm their eligibility for Think2; however, parents should be reminded to reconfirm their eligibility every three months for the working parent entitlement as directed by Best Start in Life.
For parents eligible for Working Parent Entitlements AND Think2, should a parent fall out of eligibility for the working parent element, they will still be entitled to access 15 hours under Think2.
