The Disability Access Fund (DAF) is an annual lump sum paid to early years providers, £975 per child in 2026-27, for under-fives who get Disability Living Allowance and take up a funded childcare place. Your local council pays it on top of your normal hourly funding so you can meet a disabled child's needs in the setting.
Who is eligible
Eligibility turns on two things together: the child receives Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and the child takes up a government-funded early education place. That covers a 3- or 4-year-old on the universal 15 hours, an eligible 2-year-old on their 15 hours, and a child aged 9 months to 2 years whose working parents qualify for the funded hours. The trigger is the DLA award, not a diagnosis and not an EHCP, so check whether the family already gets DLA rather than waiting for an assessment to conclude.
One important exclusion: a 4-year-old in a primary school reception class is not eligible for DAF, even if they receive DLA. The fund is for the early years entitlement, not for school-age provision.
How the money works
DAF is the rule most settings get wrong, so it is worth being precise:
- It is a fixed annual lump sum, not an hourly top-up. For 2026-27 the national minimum is £975 per eligible child (it was £938 in 2025-26).
- It is not pro-rated by hours. A child who attends a handful of funded hours attracts the same £975 as one taking the full entitlement.
- Only one payment is made per child per year. Where a child splits their funded hours across two or more settings, the parent nominates a single provider to receive the DAF, because it cannot be shared.
You can spend DAF on what the child needs to access the setting: reasonable adjustments, building staff capacity, training, specialist resources and equipment. It is not ring-fenced to a named activity, but you should be able to show it benefited the disabled child it was paid for.
Why this matters
Because the payment is a one-off and claimed through the council, a child who joins partway through the year, or who is missed on the termly funding return, can mean a setting loses the whole £975 for that year. Identifying DLA early and naming the right nominated provider is what protects the funding. DAF sits alongside other early years support such as Element 3 top-up funding and the funded place for a disabled 2-year-old; it does not replace them.
Where the law comes from
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.