Kita places in Berlin: how the free Kita-Gutschein works for British parents

Berlin childcare is free. Not "30 hours funded if you fill in the right form in the right term" free, but free from the first birthday until school, bar EUR 23 a month for lunch. The hard part is the hunt for a place.

The short version

• Every child needs a Kita-Gutschein (Kita voucher) from the Jugendamt to attend a publicly funded Kita or childminder [1].
• From their first birthday, children have a right to up to 7 hours a day with no questions asked; longer hours need a reason, usually work or study [1][2].
• Apply no earlier than 9 months and no later than 2 months before the start date; processing takes 6 to 8 weeks [1].
• Kita is free; parents pay EUR 23 a month (about £19) towards lunch, and any optional extras are capped at EUR 100 a month (about £83) [2][3].
• Berlin has 563 Kitas with a bilingual or multilingual concept, and English is the most common second language, at 312 of them [4].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.2002).

What the Kita-Gutschein is

A Kita (Kindertagesstätte) is a nursery and pre-school rolled into one, covering roughly ages 1 to 6. In Berlin, the state pays for publicly funded places through a voucher, the Kita-Gutschein, issued by your district's Jugendamt (youth office) [1]. The voucher doesn't find you a place. It's more like a ticket: it says how many hours a day your child may attend, and you then take it to any publicly funded Kita or childminder (Kindertagespflege) with a free space [1].

To apply, you need a Berlin address, custody of the child, and a child at least 8 weeks old [1]. That means your Anmeldung (address registration) needs doing first; our guide to registering your address in Berlin explains how. Your passport and nationality don't come into it.

How many hours you get

More than 7 hours can also be granted for family, social or educational reasons [1]. If your circumstances change, you can ask for more hours later, with no deadline [1].

Applying, step by step

1. Do your Anmeldung so you have a Berlin address on record.
2. Fill in the application using the city's online form assistant. It produces a PDF that you print out [1].
3. Get every parent with custody to sign it. All custodial parents must agree. If you have sole custody, include proof [1].
4. Add evidence for extra hours, such as an employer's letter, a university enrolment certificate or proof of self-employment. You need this for any child under one, whatever the hours [1].
5. Post it or drop it off at your district's Familienservicebüro [1]. There's no fee [1].
6. Wait 6 to 8 weeks for the voucher [1].

Timing is everything. The official service page says first applications go in no earlier than 9 months and no later than 2 months before care starts [1]; the city's Welcome Centre advises applying as early as possible, and at least 3 months ahead [2]. Since you can't use the voucher without a place, and Kitas often want to see the voucher, most parents apply as soon as the 9-month window opens and start the Kita search in parallel. It's a bit of a faff, but it's paperwork, not a test.

Finding a place

This is the bit that keeps Berlin parents up at night. The voucher is guaranteed; a place round the corner isn't.

• The city's official Kita finder on berlin.de is the online search for publicly funded Kitas. You can filter by language, age and inclusion of children with disabilities, and it shows whether places are free right now [2].
• Timing: Kitas mostly take new children after the summer holidays, in August and September, and often fill those places between January and March, though there are plenty of exceptions [2]. The process can take months [2].
• Parent-run Kitas (Elterninitiativ-Kitas) are listed too. They're usually small, and parents chip in with cooking, cleaning or committee work [2].
• Childminders (Kindertagespflege) look after small groups and take the same voucher [1][2]. Many parents use one as a bridge to a Kita.
• Ask directly. Email or phone Kitas yourself, ideally in German, and follow up [2]. A friendly visit with your voucher in hand works better than a form.

Expect a settling-in period (Eingewöhnung) of a few weeks, with a parent present at first, so don't book your first day back at work for the day after your child starts.

What it costs

The Kita place itself costs nothing. If your child has lunch there, you pay EUR 23 a month (about £19) [3]. Kitas can charge for optional extras such as music or sport, but Berlin's rules cap these at EUR 100 per child a month (about £83) in total, and parents can say no without losing their place [3]. Kitas may not charge for admission, reserving a place, deposits or cleaning, or make you join a support association [3]. Families on low incomes can get help with meals and extras through the Bildungs- und Teilhabepaket [2].

Compare that with a London nursery bill and you'll be chuffed. Our guide to the cost of living in Berlin puts it in context.

Bilingual and English-speaking Kitas

You don't need to pay for an English-language nursery. In a July 2026 answer to the Berlin parliament, the Senate said 563 Kitas in Berlin run a bilingual or multilingual concept, caring for 26,900 children, and English is the most common partner language, offered at 312 of them [4]. Mitte (76), Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (73), Pankow (72) and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg (70) have the most bilingual or multilingual Kitas [4]. The Senate warns that these figures come from providers' own entries and follow no single definition [4], so "bilingual" can mean anything from a full English-speaking team to a weekly song session. Ask how many staff are native speakers and how much of the day is in English.

Use the language filter in the city's Kita finder to find them [2]. Private international schools often run their own early-years sections, but check before you sign: the Berlin British School, for example, says it doesn't accept the Kita-Gutschein for its early years [5], so you'd pay fees.

Plenty of British parents choose a German-speaking Kita on purpose. A child who starts at 1 or 2 will usually pick up German far faster than you, and English at home keeps the other language going.

From Kita to school

In Berlin, children start school in the August after they turn 6 by 30 September [6]. You register them at your local primary school about 10 months ahead, in the autumn; for children starting in August 2027, the window was 5 to 16 October 2026 [7]. A school medical check by the Kinder- und Jugendgesundheitsdienst comes first [7].

If you think your child isn't ready, you can ask to defer for a year. For a 2027 start, the medical check had to happen by the end of February 2027 and the request was due by 26 February 2027 [7]. The Jugendamt then extends the Kita voucher [6].

After-school care continues the same idea. Berlin's after-school care (eFöB, or Hort) is covered in full for grades 1 to 3, and partly for grades 4 to 6 depending on need and income, according to the city's Welcome Centre [2]. You can ask for it when you register for school [6].

Our guide to schools in Berlin covers the free bilingual state schools that teach in English, and the British and international options.

The UK end

Moving your children abroad doesn't change their British nationality, but a baby born in Berlin to British parents may or may not be British automatically, depending on how the parents got their own citizenship. Our guide to registering a child born abroad explains when you need to act. UK Child Benefit generally stops when the family leaves the UK, while German Kindergeld is claimed through the Familienkasse once you live and pay tax here.

The FCDO's "Living in Germany" guide notes that the federal states run nurseries and pre-schools, and that the British Embassy can't give personal advice on settling in [8]. For the real-world tips, such as which Kita in Prenzlauer Berg still has a waiting list shorter than the U2, ask other parents in our community group for Brits in Germany.

Sources

1. Service-Portal Berlin: Kita-Gutschein beantragen
2. Willkommenszentrum Berlin: Kindergarten (Kita)
3. Berlin Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family: parents' information on Kita extra charges (November 2024)
4. Abgeordnetenhaus Berlin: written question 19/26471 on multilingual and bilingual childcare (answered 7 July 2026)
5. Berlin British School: Fees
6. Willkommenszentrum Berlin: Schools
7. Berlin Senate Department for Education: Anmeldung zur Grundschule (page dated 5 November 2026)
8. GOV.UK (FCDO): Living in Germany (last updated 11 December 2025)

Keep reading

• Schools in Berlin: British and international schools
• Anmeldung: registering your address in Berlin
• Renting in Berlin
• Registering a child born abroad and British citizenship by descent