WRAPAROUND CHILDCARE (WAC) OVERSEAS LAUNCHES
If you use Defence Children Services (DCS) childcare provision overseas, you may be eligible to claim WAC from January 2025.
The Wraparound Childcare (WAC) scheme provides funding for up to 20 hours per week, per child, during term time (39 weeks), to eligible Service families with children aged 4 to 11 years old (4-16 years old if receiving Government disability allowances) who are in full time education in school or being home educated. Over 7,000 Service children's before and after school childcare is currently being funded by WAC.
WAC Overseas mirrors the WAC scheme in the UK, it is a reimbursement from Defence to Service personnel of up to 80% of the costs of before and after school childcare. Capped hourly rates apply and can be found in 2022DIN01-079-Defence Wraparound Childcare Allowance. The remaining 20% is claimed from HMRC via an active Tax-Free Childcare account. WAC funding does not provide childcare spaces, it is funding for costs incurred when eligible families pay for before and after school childcare.
What do families need to do to register to claim WAC funding?
- Make sure each child, that funding will be claimed for, has an active Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) account (active means that you reconfirm your account with HMRC every 3 months and receive the 20% top up from HMRC when you add money into the TFC account).
- Check children have been recorded and verified on JPA; children are verified on JPA when there is a ‘yes’ in the certificate verified box.
- Register using this Form. Once you have submitted your registration form, wait until you receive a WAC Overseas eligibility confirmation email including reference number and entitlement start date before submitting a claim.
- Please note this is a temporary registration and claims process that will be in place until at least April 2025, before it is moved within JPA.
- If you registered your child(ren) for WAC UK within JPA and have since been assigned to a location included in WAC Overseas and are accompanied by your family, you will need to register again using the WAC Overseas process.
- Once you have submitted a registration and received your WAC Overseas eligibility confirmation email, you can submit WAC Overseas claims for childcare used from the date shown on the registration confirmation email.
- For guidance on how to submit a WAC Overseas claim please see the step-by-step guides on the WAC Overseas area of the Defence Childcare Information Page on Defnet or Defence Connect.
- When using DCS provision, the provider must have been paid via an active TFC account before the claim is submitted.
The WAC Overseas capped hourly rates are set to the average for providers in England and by provider type. The capped hourly rates change at the start of each UK autumn term, these may go up or down and may affect the amount of funding you can claim.
- Check the rates which are listed in 2022DIN01-079 – Defence Wraparound Childcare Allowance on Defnet or Defence Connect to find out the amount of funding you can claim.
- The WAC benefits calculator on the WAC Discover My Benefits Army, RAF, Navy pages enables families to check how much they may be able to claim before deciding if they want to register for WAC Overseas.
