Stretched vs Term-Time Funded Hours: Which Model Is Right for You?

When you accept a funded childcare place in Scotland, one of the first decisions you face is whether to take your 1,140 hours as term-time delivery or as a stretched, year-round model. Both add up to the same total entitlement, but they suit very different families and very different working patterns. This guide explains how each model works, who benefits most from each, and the catch that catches many parents out: you may not actually have a free choice.

The two models at a glance

Both models deliver exactly 1,140 hours per year. The difference is purely how those hours are spread.

Term-time delivery in detail

Term-time delivery follows the school year. Your child attends roughly 30 hours a week for 38 weeks, usually in line with the local school calendar. That typically means:

• Starting mid-to-late August
• Breaking for the October week
• A two-week Christmas/New Year break
• A February mid-term break
• A two-week Easter break
• Breaking up in late June for around 7 weeks of summer

During the breaks there are no funded hours. If you still need childcare in those weeks, you pay the setting's full hourly rate (often £5-9 per hour) or arrange other cover.

This model works well for:

• Parents whose work patterns also follow the school year, such as teachers and school support staff
• Families with older school-aged siblings whose holidays would coincide anyway
• Stay-at-home parents who use the funded hours for early learning rather than to enable employment
• Parents with strong family support during holidays

The drawback is the holiday gap. Across the October week, Christmas, February, Easter and the long summer break, term-time delivery leaves you with 13-14 weeks a year of no funded provision at all. If both parents work year-round, those weeks need cover from somewhere — paid sessions, family help or annual leave. Our guide to funded hours during school holidays works through the bridging options in detail.

One further point that catches parents out: unused term-time hours expire at the end of each term. You cannot bank hours from a quiet week and spend them in July. The 1,140 figure is a maximum entitlement, not a balance you draw down whenever suits you.

Stretched delivery in detail

Stretched delivery spreads the same 1,140 hours over the full 52-week year. This typically gives around 22 hours a week of continuous attendance, with the setting closed only for bank holidays and a short Christmas/Easter shutdown (usually one week each). Some private settings deliver as little as 2 weeks of closure per year.

In practice, stretched delivery looks like:

• Three full days (8am-6pm) per week, or
• Five mornings or five afternoons per week, or
• A custom pattern agreed with the setting

This model works well for:

• Working parents in year-round jobs
• Self-employed parents who cannot take long summer breaks
• Single parents whose income depends on continuous childcare
• Families without school-age siblings or family help during holidays

The trade-off is fewer hours in any given week. If your work pattern demands more than 22 hours of cover every week, stretched delivery leaves a bigger weekly top-up to pay for during term time — the saving comes from the holiday weeks you no longer pay for in full. And stretched does not mean unlimited: settings still close for bank holidays and their own shutdown weeks, and missed sessions are not made up if your child is ill or your family holiday falls outside the setting's closure dates. Ask any stretched setting for its closure calendar in writing before you accept a place.

The choice that may not be a choice

Scottish Government policy says parents should have meaningful flexibility — but availability of each model varies hugely between councils and providers.

As a rough guide:

• Council nurseries — most still operate term-time, with a growing number adding stretched options
• Family centres and ELC centres — usually term-time aligned with the local school
• Partner-provider private nurseries — usually stretched, as they operate year-round commercially
• Funded childminders — almost always stretched, working around the childminder's own schedule

If your council nursery only offers term-time and you need year-round cover, your options are to switch to a partner-provider, split your hours across two providers (one term-time, one for holidays), or buy in additional paid hours during school breaks. Splitting your funded hours across two providers is explicitly permitted by Scottish Government policy — a term-time council nursery paired with a funded childminder who works through the holidays is one of the most common combinations, though it takes coordination to run well.

Cost implications

For a working parent, the choice often comes down to which model leaves you paying the least for extra hours. A worked example for a parent working 35 hours a week:

• Term-time model: You receive 30 funded hours in term-time, leaving 5 hours a week to pay for. During the 13-14 weeks of school holidays, you pay for all 35 hours a week.
• Stretched model: You receive 22 funded hours every week of the year, leaving 13 hours a week to pay for, but with no big summer bill.

Put the same example side by side:

The stretched pattern trades a slightly bigger weekly top-up for the removal of the summer cliff. Many families find a flat, predictable monthly bill far easier to budget than a cheap term followed by an expensive July and August, especially where the setting's full rate sits at the £5-9 per hour typical of unfunded sessions.

Now flip the scenario. Take a parent working 20 hours a week in term time only — common in school-based, classroom-assistant and seasonal roles:

• Term-time model: 30 funded hours more than covers the 20 hours of care needed each week. Out-of-pocket cost: nothing.
• Stretched model: 22 funded hours also covers the 20 hours needed, but the holiday-week entitlement goes largely unused because the parent is off work anyway.

For that parent, term-time delivery wins comfortably — the hours land exactly in the weeks they are needed, with headroom to spare.

In most year-round work scenarios, stretched delivery results in lower out-of-pocket costs. Term-time wins for parents who can take school holidays off without losing income. If you are paying for top-up hours under either model, check whether the UK-wide Tax-Free Childcare scheme can take the edge off — it applies to paid hours alongside the funded entitlement.

Five questions that settle the decision

If you are stuck between the models, work through these in order:

1. Do you work during school holidays? If yes, stretched is almost always the stronger starting point. If your work stops when the schools stop, term-time usually wins.
2. How many hours of cover do you need each week? If you need more than about 22 hours weekly year-round, compare the cost of stretched top-ups against the cost of term-time holiday cover before deciding.
3. Do you have older children at school? Sibling logistics — one child on the school calendar, one in year-round nursery — push some families towards term-time so everyone's holidays align.
4. What does your preferred setting actually offer? There is no point designing the perfect pattern around a nursery that only delivers one model. Confirm before you rank your choices.
5. Which bill shape suits your budget? Term-time means low costs for most of the year and a heavy summer. Stretched means a steady, level spend. Neither is cheaper in every case — but one will fit your cash flow better.

Switching models partway through the year

Parents sometimes start on one model and discover it does not fit — a new job with year-round hours, or a redundancy that removes the need for holiday cover. Switching is possible but rarely instant:

• Most councils process pattern changes only at the intake dates of August, January and April, so plan a term ahead.
• If your current setting offers both models, a switch may just mean a new session agreement. If it only offers one, switching model means switching setting — with a fresh settling-in period for your child.
• Tell both the setting and the council's early years team as early as you can. Popular stretched places in partner nurseries fill quickly, and waiting lists move termly, not weekly.

The pre-school summer before P1

One quieter difference between the models arrives in your child's final funded year. Funded hours run until a child starts P1, and a term-time place effectively finishes with the school year in late June — leaving the last summer before school unfunded. A stretched place typically keeps funded provision running through most of that final summer. Exact end dates vary by council, so if the pre-P1 summer matters to your childcare plans, ask your setting when funding actually stops. For the wider picture of the entitlement, see our full 1,140-hours funded childcare guide.

How to find out which model your council offers

Each Scottish council publishes a list of funded providers and the delivery patterns each one offers. Search for "[your council] early learning and childcare partner providers" or ask the family information service. Many councils also publish a model comparison on their website. Before applying, phone two or three settings on the list to confirm whether they offer term-time, stretched, or both, and what session patterns are actually available — published lists are often out of date by a term or two.