Buy Extra Nursery Hours
Buy Extra Nursery Hours is available in nurseries where we have sufficient spare places after we have placed all statutory applications.
As demand across our nurseries changes from year to year we are only able to guarantee hours for one academic year. We are not able to determine how many places we have available for the next academic session until July. Parents should therefore be aware that we cannot guarantee hours for subsequent years.
Short Session Extensions
All nurseries that offer two full day/short session placements will offer the option for parents to extend their short session. There is no issue with the availability of the sessions however they must be pre-booked on our booking system. You can't buy a short session extension if your child has a morning or afternoon ELC place.
Afternoon short session extensions - Parents who have been granted two full days and an afternoon short session can choose to extend their afternoon session to 12.30-6.14pm from 11 August 2025 at a cost of £12.70 per day.
Friday morning short sessions extensions - Parents who have been granted two full days and a Friday morning short session can choose to extend their Friday morning session to 8.00-11.57am from 11 August 2025 at a cost of £5.30 per day. (There are no Friday afternoon hours available in our nurseries)
Additional Sessions
As well as the short session extensions the following nurseries will have a limited number of sessions available for parents to buy.
Addiewell Primary School AM/PM/Full Day sessions
Bankton Primary School PM Sessions only
Bathgate Early Years Centre AM/PM/Full Day sessions
Bonnytoun Nursery AM/PM/Full Day sessions
Broxburn Primary AM/PM/Full Day sessions
Carmondean Primary AM/PM/Full Day sessions
Greenrigg Primary School AM/PM/Full Day sessions
Howden St Andrews Primary School PM Sessions only
Knightsridge Early Years Centre AM/PM/Full Day sessions
Linlithgow Primary AM/PM/Full Day sessions
Simpson Primary School AM/PM/Full Day sessions
St Columba's Primary School AM/PM/Full Day sessions
Toronto Primary School PM Sessions only
There are no additional hours available for children allocated a 38 week pattern of attendance.
We are introducing a new booking system for 2025/2026, you need to have received an invite to create an account, but once you are registered and the service is live you will be able to: Parents will receive email instructions from us and an invitation to register for the new service. We will let you know what date we can accept bookings from. Please note :- Sessions for purchase are booked on a first come first served basis. If your child is attending a nursery not listed above you will receive an email from us at a later date but before the beginning or term with further information on how to book. As there is no issue with availability for the short sessions you can be assured that your booking will be accepted.Bookings for 2025/2026 are not yet live, but please note:
This new system will initially be made available to parents/carers who have a child at one of the following nurseries :
Addiewell Primary Nursery Bankton Primary Nursery Bathgate Early Years Bonnytoun Nursery Broxburn Primary Nursery Carmondean Primary Nursery Greenrigg Primary Nursery Howden St Andrew's Primary Nursery Knightsridge Early Years Linlithgow Primary Nursery Simpson Primary Nursery St Columba's Primary Nursery Toronto Primary Nursery All other nurseries offering 2 Full day/Short sessions
- Mornings (AM) £36 per session - Sessions are Monday to Thursday 07:47-12:30 or Friday 08:00-11:54
- Afternoon (PM) £36 per session - Sessions are Monday to Thursday 12:30-18:14
- Extension to Afternoon Short Session £12.70 per extension - Available if child is attending 2 full days and a short session. This option allows you to extend a short session from 12:45-16:05 to 12:30-18:14. (There is no option to extend to a full day)
- Short Session Friday - £5.30 per session - Available if child is attending 2 full days and a short session. This option allows you to extend a short session from 08:00-11:20 to 08:-11:57. (There is no option to extend to a full day)
- Full Day £63 per session - Sessions are Monday to Thursday 08:00-18:00
NEW ADMIT SYSTEM PILOT - Credit or Debit Card
If you make childcare payments by debit or credit card you will need to use a new Reference number.
NEW ADMIT SYSTEM PILOT - Other Options
- Tax free childcare :-
- Advise us of your intention to use your Tax Free Childcare account for payments, you only need to do this once. How to complete notification that you will pay by Tax Free Childcare Account (PDF, 261 KB)(opens new window)
- Make payments by logging into your Tax Free Childcare account to make payment (payments should be made 7 days prior to the booked session date). If you can't see your nursery listed please contact us for further information.
- Childcare Vouchers :-
- Advise us of your intention to use your Childcare Vouchers for payments, you only need to do this once. How to complete notification that you will pay by Childcare Vouchers (PDF, 255 KB)(opens new window)
- Please login to your Childcare Voucher Companies account to make payment (payments should be made on this system 7 days prior to the booked session date). If you can't see your nursery listed or need the nursery reference number please contact us.
- West Lothian College - if you are studying at West Lothian College you may be eligible for help with childcare costs please contact us for further information.
2024/2025 Session - NEW ADMIT SYSTEM PILOT - Linlithgow PSNC only
On the 23 June 2025 - we issued parents who have bookings already in BENH an invite to create an account on the new system. We will issue an e-mail to the remaining parents with children at Linlithgow PSNC advising when they will receive an invite once we are able. Once you have created an account on the new system click here for the - Sign In Page for Parents - New Buy Extra Nursery Hours System (opens new window)
All other nurseries will be remain on current BENH system until further notice.
Guidance on how to pay and prices can be seen in 'Prices' section.
This will be available at all nurseries running the 50 week model of statutory attendance, whether any other sessions have been released to purchase at that nursery or not. This option allows children allocated the 2 full day attendance pattern, to extend the short session part of the statutory allocation. The short session in the afternoon between Monday to Thursday is where a child attends from 12:45-16:05 on the day allocated, and can be extended so the child would attend from 12:30-18:14 at a cost of £12. Or if the short session is allocated on a Friday morning so the child can attend from 08:00-11:20, this can be extended so the child would attend from 08:00-11:54 at a cost of £5. [Unfortunately we are unable to extend from a short session to a full day.] Buy Extra Nursery Hours - where we were able to release limited sessions in either the mornings, afternoons or full days is indicated below: Addiewell Primary School - mornings, afternoons Armadale Primary School - mornings, afternoons and full days Bankton Primary School - mornings, afternoons and full days Bonnytoun Nursery - mornings, afternoons and full days Broxburn Primary School - mornings, afternoons and full days Carmondean Primary School - afternoons and full days only on Mondays and Thursdays Eastertoun Nursery School - afternoons Fauldhouse Nursery Class - full days Greenrigg Primary School - mornings, afternoons and full days Howden St Andrew's Primary School - afternoons Kirknewton Primary School - mornings, afternoons and full days Linlithgow Bridge - mornings, afternoons and full days Linlithgow Primary - mornings, afternoons and full days Longridge Primary School - mornings Stoneyburn Primary School - afternoons Simpson Primary School - full days Southdale Primary School - full days on Monday, Tuesday & Thursday, Morning & afternoon on Wednesday Uphall Primary School - mornings, afternoons and full days Windyknowe Primary School - afternoons Woodlands Nursery School - afternoons Please note :- Sessions for purchase are booked on a first come first served basis. Application Process Next Steps You can pay for sessions using a - Please see below for further information Debit/Credit card You can pay for your session using a debit/credit card using West Lothian's "pay for it" facility. A link for this will be sent with your confirmation email. If you choose this option we will receive information of your payment and your account will be updated with details of the payment automatically. Tax Free Childcare Account If you have a tax free childcare account and would like to pay for extra sessions using the account, please email buyextranurseryhours@westlothian.gov.uk each time you make a payment to let us know the amount you have paid, the date of payment and your child's tax free childcare number. After we have checked that we have received your payment we will update your account Childcare Vouchers If you would like to use childcare vouchers please contact buyextranurseryhours@westlothian.gov.uk to see if we are able to accept these as payment. West Lothian College If you are studying with West Lothian College, and are eligible to receive help with childcare, then we can arrange for some or all of your extra hours to be paid for by the college. Please contact buyextranurseryhours@westlothian.gov.uk for further information. Once we have confirmation from the college we will let you know if there is a balance to pay for any hours purchased. All payments, except those made directly from West Lothian College, should be made 4 weeks in advance. Reminder emails will be sent the day before a booking if we haven't received any payment. We may cancel future bookings If payments are not made on time. If you have paid for sessions more than four weeks in advance we can arrange a refund or apply the payment to a future booking. You are not expected to pay for the full year up front. However, each booked session must be paid for in full, 48 hours prior to the date your child is to attend a booked session. You should always include your reference with any payment made, if you do not know your child's unique Ref number, then please use 'BENH' and your child's forename and surname, e.g. BENHJoeBloggs. This is to allow us to match payments received to the correct child's record. To make a payment using a debit /credit card please go to West Lothian Council | Online Payments (opens new window) We also accept payments from Tax free childcare accounts. Please login to your account to make payment. If you can't see your nursery listed please contact us for further information. We may be able to accept childcare vouchers from employer schemes - please contact us to discuss. If you are studying at West Lothian College you may be eligible for help with childcare costs please contact us for further information. Any questions can be sent to buyextranurseryhours@westlothian.gov.uk. Additional morning, afternoon or full day sessions are available at the nurseries below - please note that availability may be limited. For bookings up until the 18 April 2025 please use the Make a Booking (opens new window). For enquiries and bookings for dates after the 18 April 2025 onwards please e -mail buyextranurseryhours@westlothian.gov.uk . Short session extension - available in all nurseries for children who have a two full day and short session placement. Afternoon short sessions can be extended to 12:30-18:14. Friday morning short sessions can be extended to 08:00-11:57. You can book short session extensions up until August 2025 using the Make a Booking (opens new window). For the Booking form, you will need to - 1. Enter your ID Number (if this is unknown, please e-mail buy extra nursery hours to request), select the nursery your child has been allocated and how you intend to pay for the extra hours.
2. Choose the session you would like to book. State the number of weeks you wish to book this session for (the system will automatically discount any dates the nursery is closed).
3. Once you click the submit button at the end of the form, you will receive an automatic email within 24 hours to let you know whether the sessions/dates are available or not.
4. When you get the e-mail confirming the availability, you must click on the 'Yes' button in the e-mail within 24 hours of receipt to complete the booking. If you don't complete this step the sessions will be released again for other people to book.
The information you provide on this form will be used to administer your request to buy extra nursery hours. We will check the information we hold on our school information management system to confirm that your child attends the nursery you wish to book extra nursery hours with. The nursery will be informed of the times you have booked once you have paid for the hours.
We hold the information about your application and booking securely.
Our nurseries will keep a record of attendance in line with legal requirements.
Your Rights Under data protection law, you have rights including:
Your right of access:
You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
Your right to erasure:
You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances. Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to object to processing:
You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances. Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances. You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights.
If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. To make a request please contact us at Education Customer Services, West Lothian Council, West Lothian Civic Centre, Howden South Road, Livingston, West Lothian, EH54 6FF.
Providing accurate information It is important the information we hold is correct. If you need to make any changes, please e-mail or call your child's school. You can view school contact information from the main council website.
Further information If you have any questions or concerns about how your information is used, please contact us at the address above.
You can also contact the Data Protection Officer:
West Lothian Council
West Lothian Civic Centre
Howden South Road
Livingston
West Lothian
EH54 6FF
email: DataProtectionOfficer@westlothian.gov.uk (opens new window)
More information about data protection and how it applies to you, including how to 4 make a complaint, is available from the Information Commissioner's Office (opens new window).
The ICO's address:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113.
Terms and Conditions
- Places available to buy through the "Buy Extra Nursery Hours" pilot can only be offered where there is spare capacity within the nursery.
- You can only buy extra nursery hours in the setting in which your child has a nursery place and during the days the setting is open.
- We cannot guarantee that where places are made available at a nursery they will be available the following year.
- The number of extra hours available to buy may vary from year to year.
- Bookings can be made for one academic year only (August to August). Parents will be informed when bookings open for the following year.
- Places will be granted on a first come, first served basis.
- The session fees are reviewed annually.
- No discounts or concessions are available in relation to session fees.
- We reserve the right to cancel sessions in exceptional circumstances such as severe weather and a refund will be processed.
- 4 weeks notice is required for cancellations.
- No refunds will be given for non-attendance (for example through sickness or holidays).
- Payment must be made in advance of using the session. Payments made via childcare voucher companies or Tax Free childcare vouchers may take several days to reach us and be applied to your account. Parents paying using these methods should allow 7 days for the payment to reach us.
- Unpaid sessions will result in your account being suspended and future bookings will be cancelled. Bookings will be released back for sale and may not be available for you to rebook once you account is up to date.
Modification of Terms & Conditions
West Lothian Council reserves the right to amend the Terms & Conditions for example to comply with revised fiscal, legislative or operating requirements. Changes will be notified in writing to parents/carers, and will replace all previous Terms & Conditions.
If you have any issues or questions, please contact your nursery, or contact us at buyextranurseryhours@westlothian.gov.uk
