Dear Service Provider,

We would like to remind all services of the requirement to submit a Service Need Review where a child does not require AIM Level 7 support during their National Childcare Scheme (NCS) hours, including NCS Wraparound and NCS Only hours.

Following the redesign of AIM Level 7, AIM Level 7 support is now automatically awarded during NCS hours for children with a confirmed NCS claim once their AIM Level 7 Confirmation Form has been confirmed. As a result, the process has changed from an opt-in model to an opt-out model.

Where a service determines that a child does not require AIM Level 7 support for some or all of their NCS hours, a Service Need Review must be submitted.

At present, review functionality for the 2026/2027 programme year is not yet available on the Early Years Hive. In the meantime, reviews can be submitted through the Requests page using the following categories:

• Programme: AIM Level 7
• Request Type: Review
• Request Type Detail: Standard

Please continue to monitor the Early Years Hive over the coming weeks for further updates regarding the availability of review functionality.

We want to hear from you

We would like to invite you to complete our AIM Level 7 communications survey. Your responses are completely anonymous and will help us improve future communications and stakeholder engagement.

Click here to complete the survey

Regards,

The Early Years Team