From 2026 onwards, new operational policy settings will be in place to support the roll-out of Pre-Prep, and to support early access for children who will benefit from access to additional hours the most.
The changes are part of reforms that will see Four-Year-Old Kindergarten gradually transition to Pre-Prep, with programs across Victoria increasing from 15 to 30 hours each week.
While many of the of the existing requirements for funded kindergartens will continue to apply from 2026, there will be some changes that could affect your service.
Delivering Pre-Prep in 2026 – what you need to know
Children eligible for Pre-Prep from 2026 must be enrolled at least 16 hours per week for 40 weeks of the year (640 hours per year) to be eligible for funding.
This schedule specifies when Pre-Prep will roll out in each local government area and the maximum number of hours available.
The roll-out schedule also gives children from specified priority cohorts early access to Pre-Prep statewide. In 2026, this will support:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
- children from a refugee or asylum seeker background
- children who have had contact with Child Protection services.
In addition, children who were supported by the Access to Early Learning program for Three-Year-Old Kindergarten will be eligible for Pre-Prep from 2026.
We encourage you to start planning how your service will deliver Pre-Prep to children for priority cohorts from 2026. Many of these children will currently be enrolling in Three-Year-Old Kindergarten for 2025, providing services with insights into the potential number of children accessing Pre-Prep in 2026.
Children from priority cohorts can be enrolled in more than one group at a service to fulfill hourly enrolment requirements.
We also encourage you to consider how Pre-Prep can be delivered while maintaining the number of 3- and 4-year-old enrolments at the service.
To help support all eligible children to access a funded Pre-Prep place locally, all services intending to reduce Pre-Prep places to below their current number of 4-year-old enrolments must notify the department.
Service providers will be informed when a risk emerges that children in a service’s local area may not be able to access a funded Pre-Prep place. In these circumstances, the department will work with services in that local area to increase the number of enrolments.
Are there any changes to Three-Year-Old Kindergarten?
As Pre-Prep rolls out, we want to build on the successes of the roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten.
Services are expected to continue to deliver, or work towards delivering, 15 hours of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten.
To support this, all services that intend to reduce Three-Year-Old Kindergarten hours or enrolments to accommodate Pre-Prep must notify the department for approval.
What are the changes for children seeking an additional year of funded kindergarten?
Currently, children meeting the eligibility requirements can access an additional year of funded Four-Year-Old Kindergarten, but not Three-Year-Old Kindergarten.
From 2026, children meeting the eligibility requirements due to their learning and development needs can access an additional year of funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten or an additional year of funded Pre-Prep, but not both.
We will provide further information about this policy change in 2025.
Find out more
For more information, refer to:
For further enquiries, contact the department by email: service.delivery@education.vic.gov.au
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