Dear Service Provider,
Please note, additional information is now required when submitting an AIM Level 7 Plus and/or Non-term application for the 2025/2026 programme call. New questions have been added under the ‘Session ratio questions’ section of the application to capture the required information. Please find a breakdown of the additional questions below.
Additional questions
1. ‘What are the current number of core adults in the session this child is attending (excluding AIM additional assistance and this proposed additional assistance)?‘What are the current number of core adults in the session this child is attending (excluding AIM additional assistance and this proposed additional assistance)? Please enter the number of core adults only who will be in the session that this child will be attending.
2. ‘‘Are there additional staff not funded by Pobal/Better Start? Please note any staff that are HSE-funded or employed under a community employment scheme cannot be included in the ratio.’ If any additional staff members will be in the session that this child will be attending, please select ‘Yes’. Please note, AIM additional assistance staff are funded by Pobal/ Better Start, therefore should not be included in your response to this question. If you select ‘Yes’, please advise ‘How many?’ additional staff members will be in the session not funded by Pobal.
3. ‘Are there additional staff currently funded by Pobal (level 7 support) in this session?’.‘Are there additional staff currently funded by Pobal (level 7 support) in this session?’. Please answer ‘Yes’ if there is an AIM additional assistance staff member who is currently funded by Pobal in this session. If you answer ‘Yes’, please specify how many AIM additional assistance staff are in this session (do not include this application or any other pending applications, only include staff already approved/funded). Please, do not include staff funded by other programmes as these are captured in question 2.
4. ‘What are the current number of registered children in the session this child is attending?’ ‘What are the current number of registered children in the session this child is attending?’ Please advise on the number of registered children in this session, e.g. if there are 22 children registered to attend the session, please note this in your response.
5. ‘Is there more than one child who has a submitted AIM Plus and/or AIM Standard application attending this session?’ or ‘Is there more than one child who has a submitted AIM Non-term application attending this session?’ Please answer ‘Yes’ if another child in this session has submitted an AIM Level 7 application. For this question, please do not include any child(ren) who already have an approved/funded application; these must be included in question 3. This question is only for submitted but not yet appraised applications. If you answer ‘Yes,’ a follow-up question will appear; please specify ‘How many children in total (including current application)?’. Your answer to the follow-up question should include the child for whom you are submitting the current application.
Fractional hours
Please note, where fraction hours are submitted under ‘Sessions Information’ on an AIM Plus and/or AIM Non-term application, the hours will automatically be rounded up to the nearest 0.5.
For example, where 1.2 hours is submitted on the application, this will automatically be rounded up to 1.5. Where 1.7 hours is submitted on the application, this will automatically be rounded up to 2.
Guidance
See the AIM Hive Guides to support with the submission of your AIM applications.
Support
Should you have any queries in relation to the AIM programme, please contact the Early Years Provider Centre (EYPC) by raising a Request using the following categories:
Programme: (select the AIM level)
Request type: Application
Request type detail: How To
Regards,