Is nursery basically daycare?

I seem to be having trouble wrapping my mind around the start of school for my son. He's only one so it's not a real rush I suppose but I want to understand this and for some reason it just makes no. sense. to me.

As I understand it, when a child is 3 they are allowed 15 hours/week at a nursery paid for by the government. But what exactly is nursery in US terms? Is it a proper pre-school? Is it just daycare? All of the mums that I know seem to call whatever their kid does 'nursery,' whether they're 6 months or 3 years old. This leads me to think of it as daycare, but then why would the government subsidize it?

If someone could explain this to me, I would be so thankful!

It is confusing how the term Nursery is used in two different ways here, isn't it?. 

The 15 hours a week funding for 3-4 year olds for Nursery is for what's called their Nursery Year.  Different types of providers can provide these 15 hours - a Nursery Class atttached to a school, a private Nursery School, a Playgroup or Preschool, a Childminder, or a Day Nursery.  The last two of these would be most akin to daycare in that they are often all day, the rest would be typically 3 hour sessions.

ALL of these follow the same curriculum (in England and Wales) called the Early Years Foundation Stage and are primarily focused on learning through play (as opposed to more formal learning through instruction as in school).  There are certain Early Learning Goals that children should typically reach by the end of the school year in which they turn five and various steps along the way for providers to check that they are on track.

So basically the Nursery that is government funded is proper pre-school as you put it.  The playgroup where I work (and where my daughter is currently doing her Nursery year) prepares children to be eager and interested and able to learn when they get to school.  They learn how to interact with others and how to sit and listen to stories etc.

Now to get back to planning my small group activities for next week! If you have any further questions let me know.

The terminology is a bit confusing, isn't it? Nursery can be something like daycare but it can also be more like a preschool. And even within certain "daycare facilities" there are classes that are more like traditional preschools (same as there is in the States)

My son (just turned 4 in Jan) was lucky enough (after being on local waiting lists for almost a year!) to secure a spot at the nursery attached to the local primary school. He's been there since Sept and it has been fabulous for him. He goes every day, 3 hours a day and the program is much more academic than I was expecting for children this age. They do plenty of play, but they're also learning things like letters, counting, writing their names..and general social skills. I am glad he got a place in a school nursery vs some of the other places we had his name down for...just based on availability. Some preschools and playgroups were so overcrowded, they only had space for a child to attend 2-3 times per week. He is able to go up to 5 days per week, and because it is part of the primary school, there is no fee involved at all.

Thanks for your responses! So would you say that the reception year is more like kindergarten or pre-school?

Yup, reception is more like kindergarten.