Childcare costs in Reading, Wokingham
Published prices run from £5.50 to £11.00 an hour (the middle is £9.90); a full day at a day nursery from £71.00 to £100.00.
Read from the nurseries' own fee pages, most recently on 16 October 2026.
Work out the cost for your child's age and days
Funded hours, by age
| Age | Funded hours | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Under 9 months | None | Every family pays the full fee. |
| 9 months to 2 years | Up to 30 hours a week, 38 weeks a year | Working parents (gov.uk) |
| 2 years | Up to 30 hours a week if you work; 15 hours if you get certain support | Working parents, or families on some benefits (gov.uk) |
| 3 and 4 years, until Reception | 15 hours a week for every child; up to 30 for working parents | Everyone (gov.uk) |
Hours start the term after your child reaches the age: terms start on 1 September, 1 January and 1 April. 30 hours a week for 38 weeks is 1,140 hours a year, and many nurseries spread them over more weeks. Working parents apply on gov.uk for a code and reconfirm it every three months. Key dates works out when your child's hours start.
National rules for England from September 2025: gov.uk. Nurseries may charge for meals, nappies and activities on funded hours; those charges are not in the figures here.
Nurseries with a published fee (8)
"A year full time" is 5 days of 10 hours for 51 weeks (2,550 hours). With 30 funded hours (a child from 9 months to 4 years, parents working) 1,140 of them are free and 1,410 are paid at the nursery's hourly rate. Pre-schools open for sessions, not full days, so only their hourly rate is shown.
Chapel Lane Pre School
£5.50 an hour (worked out from its session prices and times)
The nursery's published price on 16 October 2026: its fee page. Check with the nursery before you rely on it.
Muddy Ducks Nursery
£71.00 a day · £7.10 an hour (its day rate over a 10-hour day)
A year full time: £10,010 after 30 funded hours (£834 a month); £18,100 with no funded hours (under 9 months).
The nursery's published price on 7 October 2026: its fee page. Check with the nursery before you rely on it.
Earleybird Pre-School
£8.50 an hour (its published hourly rate)
A year full time: £11,980 after 30 funded hours (£998 a month); £21,680 with no funded hours (under 9 months).
The nursery's published price on 7 October 2026: its fee page. Check with the nursery before you rely on it.
Lower Earley Day Nursery and Pre-School
£98.00 a day (day rates listed: £40.80 to £98.00) · £9.80 an hour (its day rate over a 10-hour day)
A year full time: £13,820 after 30 funded hours (£1,152 a month); £24,990 with no funded hours (under 9 months).
The nursery's published price on 7 October 2026: its fee page. Check with the nursery before you rely on it.
Hazebrouck Day Nursery and Pre-School
£100.00 a day (day rates listed: £42.80 to £100.00) · £10.00 an hour (its day rate over a 10-hour day)
A year full time: £14,100 after 30 funded hours (£1,175 a month); £25,500 with no funded hours (under 9 months).
The nursery's published price on 7 October 2026: its fee page. Check with the nursery before you rely on it.
Bright Horizons Sonning Lane Day Nursery and Preschool
£91.86 a day (day rates listed: £91.86 to £102.07) · £10.21 an hour (its published hourly rate)
The day rate is worked out from a monthly price for full time.
A year full time: £14,400 after 30 funded hours (£1,200 a month); £26,040 with no funded hours (under 9 months).
The nursery's published price on 16 October 2026: its fee page. Check with the nursery before you rely on it.
Waingels Gardens Day Nursery
£100.00 a day (day rates listed: £86.00 to £100.00) · £11.00 an hour (its published hourly rate)
A year full time: £15,510 after 30 funded hours (£1,292 a month); £28,050 with no funded hours (under 9 months).
The nursery's published price on 7 October 2026: its fee page. Check with the nursery before you rely on it.
Woodley Gardens Day Nursery
£100.00 a day (day rates listed: £86.00 to £100.00) · £11.00 an hour (its published hourly rate)
A year full time: £15,510 after 30 funded hours (£1,292 a month); £28,050 with no funded hours (under 9 months).
The nursery's published price on 7 October 2026: its fee page. Check with the nursery before you rely on it.
Nurseries whose fee we do not hold (21)
- Ambleside Centre (Day nursery; Ofsted: Good, 20 February 2023): fee unknown
- Arborfield Village Montessori Nursery (Pre-school; Ofsted: Report card: expected standard or better in every area, 2 March 2026): fee unknown
- Busy Bees Day Nursery at Reading Woodley (Day nursery; Ofsted: Good, 17 February 2023): fee unknown
- Chalkhouse Nursery Waterside (Day nursery; Ofsted: Not inspected yet): fee unknown
- Chalkhouse@Earley (Day nursery; Ofsted: Good, 26 March 2025): fee unknown
- Farm View Day Nursery (Day nursery; Ofsted: Good, 4 May 2022): fee unknown
- Get Active @ Hillside Primary School (Day nursery; Ofsted: Requirements met, 4 August 2021): fee unknown
- Happy Hours Pre School (Pre-school; Ofsted: Good, 20 April 2023): fee unknown
- Happy Trails Play (Day nursery; Ofsted: Report card: expected standard or better in every area, 11 March 2026): fee unknown
- Holme Park Day Nursery (Day nursery; Ofsted: Good, 21 February 2024): fee unknown
- Honeysuckle Day Nursery (Day nursery; Ofsted: Good, 2 October 2024): fee unknown
- Kilnsea Pre-School (Pre-school; Ofsted: Good, 14 March 2023): fee unknown
- Little Ducklings Day Nursery (Day nursery; Ofsted: Outstanding, 4 May 2023): fee unknown
- Little Learners Nursery (Day nursery; Ofsted: Good, 23 March 2023): fee unknown
- Our Den at Hillside (Day nursery; Ofsted: Outstanding, 25 January 2017): fee unknown
- Spencer's Wood Day Nursery (Day nursery; Ofsted: Good, 3 January 2025): fee unknown
- St James Church Pre-School CIO (Pre-school; Ofsted: Good, 13 June 2024): fee unknown
- St Nicholas Pre School Playgroup Hurst (Pre-school; Ofsted: Good, 23 March 2022): fee unknown
- Thumbs Up Club located at Addington School (Day nursery; Ofsted: Outstanding, 5 August 2019): fee unknown
- Willow Bank Pre-School (Pre-school; Ofsted: Good, 6 November 2024): fee unknown
- Woodley Pre-School (Reading) (Pre-school; Ofsted: Good, 10 October 2022): fee unknown
For comparison, a paid hour at a typical nursery in the South East region costs £8.06 for a child under 2 and £7.58 for a 2-year-old. That is a survey average, not any nursery's own price.
Source: Coram Family and Childcare, Childcare Survey 2026: average nursery price for 50 hours a week after the working-parent entitlement (paying for 20 hours), by region.
More in nurseries in Reading, ranked by what Ofsted found, and private school fees.
Nurseries: Ofsted, Childcare providers and inspections. Fees: each nursery's own website, read by kinplace's fee reader; a fee is left out when the page is shared with other nurseries (unless it is a chain's own price list, checked again for each branch), on another website, for an earlier year, or read more than 120 days ago.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources are named beside each figure. All sources.