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University of Reading

Childcare vouchers: important information for parents

Monday, 12 February 2018

Childcare vouchers

If you have children under 15 years of age and would like to take advantage of the University’s childcare voucher scheme, make sure you register by 28 February 2018. 

You could save up to £933 a year on the costs of childcare:

  • Basic Rate Taxpayer: Monthly Salary Exchange limit= £243. Annual Savings= £933.
  • Higher Rate Taxpayer: Monthly Salary Exchange limit= £124. Annual Savings= £623.
  • Additional Rate Taxpayer: Monthly Salary Exchange limit= £110. Annual Savings= £623.

Childcare vouchers can be used for all types of registered childcare, such as:  

  • When your child is under 5 years old: Nursery; Playgroup; Childminders; Crèche, nanny & Au Pair services.
  • When your child is 5 and over: After school & breakfast clubs; Holiday clubs; Residential activity  holidays and day camps; Childminders.

To register, please visit computersharevoucherservices.com – you will need to have the University's Scheme ID number (below), your employee number and National Insurance number to hand.

Scheme ID: 0019233939

You can also contact Computershare Customer Services on 0345 002 1111.

What happens after 28 February 2018?

After 28 February 2018, we will no longer be able to accept new applications to the Computershare Voucher Services scheme.  

Instead, parents will need to register for the Government’s Tax-free Childcare scheme. This provides parents with children under the age of 12 up to £2,000 a year per child to help cover childcare costs.  For every £8 a parent pays in, the Government will pay in an extra £2.

Parents can open an online account through the GOV.UK website, which you can use to pay for childcare from a registered provider. 

To qualify, parents will have to be in work – each parent must expect to earn at least £120 a week, to a maximum of £100,000 per annum. An online calculator is available on the GO.UK website to help you determine whether you’ll be better off: gov.uk/childcare-vouchers-better-off-calculator. 

Please visit the Childcare Choices page for further information on the Tax-free Childcare and other schemes. 

What if I’m already registered with the Computershare Voucher Services scheme?

Parents who are already registered with the Computershare Voucher Services scheme will be able to continue using the scheme until the September following their child’s 15th birthday. You will not see any changes and you will continue to pay for and receive your vouchers in the normal way.

For more information, please contact HR on hr@reading.ac.uk or extension 8751.