School Based Nursery Capital Grant Phase 3

Overview

Essex County Council Early Years and Childcare 

School Based Nursery Capital Grant Phase 3  

Application Form

Closing dates for completed applications to be submitted is 5pm Friday 17July 2026.

School-based Nursery Capital Grant 2027 to 2030

The School Based Nursery (SBN) Capital Grant is a Department for Education (DfE) initiative, delivered locally by Essex County Council, that aims to increase access to high quality‑ early years provision between 2027 and 2030. The capital funding is intended to help address childcare sufficiency pressures, particularly in areas with higher levels of need or disadvantages.  

This is the third phase of the school-based nurseries programme. It builds on the foundations of phases 1 and 2 (Department for Education SBN Capital Grant 2024 to 2026) and has an increased focus on supporting disadvantaged families to access early years provision.

Essex County Council will assess applications from Essex state funded schools, maintained nursery schools and Best Start Family Hubs and submit a prioritised set of proposals as part of its funding bid to the DfE. Submission of an application does not guarantee inclusion in the final bid. 

Eligibility and how to apply 

Where there is evidence of need for additional early years places, eligible Essex state-funded primary-phase schools, maintained nursery school and Best Start Family Hub sites can apply for up to £1,000,000 of capital funding to create a school-based nursery, and up to £500,000 to expand an existing provision.  

For the purposes of this grant, SBNs can operate as: 

• nursery classes embedded in a primary school 
• expansions to nursery classes on the site of maintained nursery schools 
• nursery units led by governors or academy trusts 
• childminders contracted to deliver nursery provision on a school site, or operating on a school's behalf 
• Private, Voluntary, and Independent (PVI) nurseries contracted to deliver nursery provision on a school site, or operating on a school's behalf 
• Best Start Family Hub sites, managed by childminders and private, voluntary, and independent (PVI) nurseries contracted to deliver nursery provision on a Best Start Family Hub (BSFH) site
• Maintained Nursery Schools (Tanglewood and Woodcroft only)

Please note: Submission of this form does not guarantee inclusion in the final funding bid. Applications will be assessed by Essex County Council (ECC) against childcare sufficiency data, school place planning requirements, and identified SEND need, including confirmation that the proposed site is not required for SEND enhanced provision or future school expansion. All applications are subject to approval by the ECC Grants Panel.

How your application is assessed

Applications will be assessed by Essex County Council (ECC) against published criteria to determine which proposals will be supported and submitted to the Department for Education (DfE).

Assessment will consider:

• Clear evidence of local childcare need, supported by appropriate data and local information
• Written confirmation from ECC Early Years and Childcare that the project is supported and that a sufficiency need exists
• Quality, deliverability and value for money, assessed using the published scoring matrix

Where more applications are received in an area than local need or available funding allows, assessment scores will be used to prioritise which applications are submitted to the DfE.

Submission of an application does not guarantee funding or inclusion in ECC’s final bid.

IMPORTANT. PLEASE READ BEFORE COMPLETING APPLICATION 

The information provided in this application form will be reviewed by a panel of ECC subject matter experts. Please provide as much information as you can within each section, keeping within the word limit (information provided outside of the word limit cannot be reviewed). 

Please use the criteria listed in Section 11 of this application form to provide detailed evidence demonstrating how your provision will meet and deliver each requirement. This section directly aligns with the scoring matrix included in the application pack. If you have provided any additional information relevant to a specific question, please ensure this is clearly referenced in the appropriate section.  

Section 17 of this form details required supporting evidence/supplementary documents. Please ensure that all documents are submitted with your application. 

• Please provide in Word or Excel format and no scanned documents. 
• Please do not submit zipped files as these can be problematic to access. 
• Ensure that each attachment is clearly titled with your school name

and the content/purpose of the document, for example: Happy Street Primary School, site plan OR Happy Street Primary School, FEEE Policy.  

• AI must not be used to complete sections of the application form. All answers should reflect the applicant’s own knowledge, experience, and judgment. 

The application will not proceed to evaluation if all required documents are not provided. 

Data Protection 

Essex County Council will process your personal information included in this document in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. The Council will not disclose such information to any unauthorised person or body and will only use such information for the purposes of administering your application. The information will be retained only for as long as necessary to do so and then securely destroyed. The council may also use this data in connection with the prevention or detection of fraud or other crime.