Primary schools can now apply for a share of £15 million capital funding to deliver up to 300 new or expanded nurseries across England, the Department for Education (DfE) has announced.

It comes as more than 320,000 additional children are now accessing 15 hours of funded childcare a week, according to the DfE, before the full rollout of 30 hours a week to all eligible families in September 2025.

This round of funding, in which schools can apply for up to £150,000, forms the first stage of the Government’s plan to open an additional 3,000 school-based nurseries – through “upgrading space” in primary schools, as Labour stated in its manifesto.

The Government vowed to take action to tackle reported instances of parents facing “very high additional charges” on top of the funded hours, which could include mandatory extra charges for nappies, lunch or other “consumables”.

The DfE said the Government will engage with local authorities and providers to clarify statutory guidance on charging, including on so-called “top-up fees” and will consider how it can support councils to protect parents from overcharging.

Around 70,000 additional places and 35,000 early years staff will be needed for the expansion to 30 funded hours next September, according to the latest projections by the Government department.

The projections, published for the first time, show around half of local areas need to increase their capacity by between 10% and 20% to meet the September demand.

Some areas, including ones that see traditionally lower household incomes such as Northumberland, Plymouth and Rotherham, need an increase of more than 20%.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “All children should have the opportunity of a brilliant early education, no matter who they are, where they’re from or how much their parents earn.

“Our new school-based nurseries will provide thousands of additional places where they are needed most, plugging historic gaps and making sure geography is no barrier to high quality childcare.

“Whilst some parents may not get their first-choice place next September, I’m determined that every parent is able to access and afford the hours that they are entitled to.”