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Exceptional circumstances

If a child meets the criteria for exceptional circumstances it is possible to apply for SENIF top up funding to:

  • support inclusion
  • enhance the adult to child ratio for more than the child's FEEE funded hours

Exceptional circumstances must not be used to cover the parental cost of additional hours.

The child must be:

  • currently attending for more than their FEEE funded hours, or
  • not eligible for FEEE and you wish to apply for the hours they currently attend

There are 3 criteria for exceptional circumstances:

Child's needs and educational benefits

  • the child must have medium or high needs based on the Essex early years banding descriptors (Word, 68KB)
  • you must review the banding descriptors and ensure the child meets the medium if high bands prior to submitting
  • evidence should indicate that there would be educational and developmental benefits for the child by spending additional hours in the early years setting

Reasonable adjustments and resource use

  • the early years setting must demonstrate that it has made reasonable adjustments and effectively utilized existing resources; including core and top-up funding
  • the setting must show that despite these efforts, additional resources are still required in order to meet the child's needs

Exceptional circumstances for parents/carers

  • there should be evidence of exceptional circumstances for the parents or carers necessitating access to additional hours to support them in parenting their child

For all children, ECC will collaborate with the provider to evaluate requests for additional hours of SENIF top up funding; each case will be assessed individually by the Early Years Resource Panel, considering the three criteria above.