NICSS for Childcare Providers
Providers & membersRegistered childcare providers and schools signed up to Tax-Free Childcare can offer eligible families a 15% reduction on fees - up to £203 per child, per month - and claim it back through the NICSS portal. Here is how to register your setting, approve child applications and submit monthly claims.
Already registered?
The NICSS provider portal
Sign in to approve child applications, submit monthly claims and export your payment and remittance information.
Go to the NICSS portal (opens in a new tab)Opens SmartSimple in a new tab.
Administered on behalf of
Registration
Register your setting in five steps
Ready to register your setting?
- First step
- Complete the NICSS Provider Registration Form
- Then
- We email you a link to activate your portal account
- Confirmation
- The NICSS team verifies your registration
Once your registration is marked as active, you can let eligible parents and carers know they may register their children with your setting.
The five steps
In order. The first step takes you to the registration form; the rest happen in the provider portal.
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Which settings can take part
Step 1: Check that your setting is eligible
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Provider Registration Form
Step 2: Register your interest
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Step 3: Activate your online account
From the email we send you
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Watch the walkthrough (opens in a new tab)
Step 4: Complete your NICSS registration
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What happens next
Step 5: Wait for confirmation
Eligibility
Which settings can take part
The subsidy can be offered by registered childcare providers and schools that are signed up to the HMRC Tax-Free Childcare scheme. NICSS does not apply to unregistered or informal childcare arrangements. If you operate separately registered settings at different sites, each site needs its own portal account and a unique email address.
Eligible setting types:
Day nurseries, playgroups, childminders and Approved Home Childcare
Out of school clubs, primary schools and special schools
What NICSS gives your setting
15% reduction
More affordable fees for families
Give eligible families a 15% reduction on their childcare fees, up to £203 per child, per month - up to £406 for a child on the higher Tax-Free Childcare disability rate.
Working families
Help parents stay in work
More affordable registered childcare supports parents and carers to remain in work, return to work or increase their hours.
Online
Manage everything in the portal
Apply the discount to the family's bill and claim the subsidy through the secure NICSS portal, where you also manage child applications, claims and remittances.
Child Applications
Approving and managing child applications
When an eligible parent or carer registers their child with your setting, a child application appears in your portal. Approve it before applying the NICSS discount.
1. Open the child application
Sign in to the provider portal and open the child application linked to your setting.
2. Review and approve
Check the information provided and approve the child application through the secure portal.
3. Apply the NICSS reduction
Once the application is active, apply the 15% reduction to the child's eligible fees, subject to the monthly cap.
If eligibility changes, or a child leaves
If a parent tells you their child is no longer eligible for Tax-Free Childcare, stop applying the discount and contact the NICSS team with the child application and TFC numbers. If a child leaves your setting, tell the team or your Grants Officer so future claims can be removed.
Monthly Claims
Submitting monthly claims
Every month a claim is generated in the portal for each active child application linked to your setting. The NICSS team emails you when the claim window opens.
1. Review each claim
Sign in to the portal, open each generated claim and check that the information displayed is accurate.
2. Complete and submit
Fill in all mandatory fields, make any amendments and submit each claim record to receive the subsidy payment.
3. Review your payment information
Review and export your claims, payment and remittance information from the portal whenever you need it.
Claim showing as "Not eligible"?
It has not been submitted yet - usually because a mandatory field is incomplete. Open the claim, make the amendments and select Submit.
Invoices
Invoices and provider documentation
Your invoices should clearly show how the NICSS discount has been applied. Where a family already receives a sibling or family discount, apply the 15% NICSS reduction after that discount has been deducted. Refundable deposits are not eligible for the subsidy. Use the latest templates below for claims from 1 April 2026.
For each eligible child, include:
The child's name, their Tax-Free Childcare number and the amount charged before the NICSS reduction
The value of the 15% NICSS reduction and the new amount payable by the parent or carer
Video Guides
Watch how it works
Short walkthroughs from the NICSS team.
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Watch the video: An overview for providers (opens in a new tab)
An overview for providers
Provider eligibility and what taking part involves. About three minutes.
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Watch the video: Registering your setting (opens in a new tab)
Registering your setting
A walkthrough of the provider registration process on the portal.
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Watch the video: Approving a child application (opens in a new tab)
Approving a child application
How to review, approve and manage a child application through the portal.
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Watch the video: Submitting monthly claims (opens in a new tab)
Submitting monthly claims
How to complete and submit monthly NICSS claims.
Invoice templates and links
Templates are for claims from 1 April 2026. Downloads open the file; external links open in a new tab.
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Monthly invoice template
Excel · 23.09 KB
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Weekly invoice template
Excel · 25.25 KB
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Monthly invoice - TFC disability rate
Excel · 23.12 KB
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Weekly invoice - TFC disability rate
Excel · 25.28 KB
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Printable invoice
PDF · 16.25 KB
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The NICSS provider portal (opens in a new tab)
early-years.smartsimpleuk.com
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Eligibility, applications, invoices, claims, payments and using the portal. Each answer has its own link.
How do I know if my setting qualifies for the subsidy scheme?
The subsidy can be offered by all registered childcare providers and schools that are signed up to the HMRC Tax-Free Childcare scheme. This includes daycares, playgroups, childminders, approved home childcare, out-of-schools settings, primary schools and special schools. It does not apply to unregistered or informal childcare arrangements.
How do I identify a Tax-Free Childcare payment?
When a parent pays you using their childcare account, the transaction will appear on your bank statement as NATIONAL SAVINGS AND INVESTMENTS . The entry should also contain the child’s:
Childcare reference number, made up of four letters and five numbers. The letters are the first initial and first three letters of the child’s surname. For example, AJON12345.
Tax-Free Childcare account number. This will be 13 digits long, start with 1100 and should contain the letters TFC. For example, TFC 1100012345678.
If your bank displays payment information differently and you are unable to identify a parent’s payment, you can submit a payment reconciliation form or call the Childcare Service Helpline on 0300 123 4097.
One child receives a family discount. Do I apply the 15% NICSS discount after the sibling discount is applied?
Please apply the 15% discount to the fee you normally charge the parents. This means applying it to the amount remaining after the sibling discount has been applied.
There are claims on my portal showing as “Not Eligible”. What does this mean?
These claims have not yet been submitted and require attention. This is usually because not all mandatory fields have been completed.
Log back into your account, review the affected claim records, make the necessary amendments and select Submit.
There is a claim on my portal that I no longer need because the child has left my setting. How can I remove it?
Please contact the NICSS Team at nicssprovider@early-years.org or contact your allocated Grants Officer.
Please include details of the claim or claims you would like removed from your portal.
Contact
Contact the NICSS team
If you need help with registration, child applications, claims or the portal, the NICSS team at Early Years can help.
- Email - childcare providers
- nicssprovider@early-years.org
- Telephone
- +44 (0)28 9066 2825 - option 3
- Email - registered childminders
- nicsschildminder@early-years.org