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Quick answer

In 2027, England and Wales have 8 bank holidays, Scotland has 9, and Northern Ireland has 10. The same totals apply in 2028. Bank holidays do not give an automatic right to paid leave · it depends on the employment contract. When a bank holiday falls on a weekend, a substitute weekday (normally the following Monday) becomes the bank holiday. In 2027, both Christmas Day and Boxing Day land on the weekend, pushing substitutes to Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December.

How many bank holidays in the UK?

The UK has no single national bank holiday calendar. Each nation observes a different mix, set in law and published by HM Treasury (England, Wales, Scotland) and the Northern Ireland Office. The totals are the same in 2027 and 2028 as in earlier years.

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England & Wales
8
bank holidays per year
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Scotland
9
bank holidays per year
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁮󠁩󠁲󠁿
Northern Ireland
10
bank holidays per year

Six holidays are observed across all four nations: New Year's Day, Good Friday, the Early May bank holiday, the Spring bank holiday, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. Every other date differs by at least one nation.

Planning further back? Our UK bank holidays 2026 and 2027 calendar covers the current and next year in the same detail.

All UK bank holidays 2027

2027 has a notable feature at year end: both Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on a weekend, so substitute days roll into Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December. Combined with the New Year's Day 2028 substitute on Monday 3 January, it sets up an unusually long Christmas shutdown for many businesses.

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England & Wales 2027
Official GOV.UK bank holiday list
8 days
HolidayDateDay
New Year's Day1 Jan 2027Friday
Good Friday26 Mar 2027Friday
Easter Monday29 Mar 2027Monday
Early May bank holiday3 May 2027Monday
Spring bank holiday31 May 2027Monday
Summer bank holiday30 Aug 2027Monday
Christmas Day Substitute27 Dec 2027Monday (25 Dec falls on Saturday)
Boxing Day Substitute28 Dec 2027Tuesday (26 Dec falls on Sunday)
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Scotland 2027
Official GOV.UK bank holiday list
9 days
HolidayDateDay
New Year's Day1 Jan 2027Friday
2nd January Substitute4 Jan 2027Monday (2 Jan falls on Saturday)
Good Friday26 Mar 2027Friday
Early May bank holiday3 May 2027Monday
Spring bank holiday31 May 2027Monday
Summer bank holiday2 Aug 2027Monday (first Monday of August)
St Andrew's Day30 Nov 2027Tuesday
Christmas Day Substitute27 Dec 2027Monday (25 Dec falls on Saturday)
Boxing Day Substitute28 Dec 2027Tuesday (26 Dec falls on Sunday)
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Northern Ireland 2027
Official nidirect bank holiday list
10 days
HolidayDateDay
New Year's Day1 Jan 2027Friday
St Patrick's Day17 Mar 2027Wednesday
Good Friday26 Mar 2027Friday
Easter Monday29 Mar 2027Monday
Early May bank holiday3 May 2027Monday
Spring bank holiday31 May 2027Monday
Battle of the Boyne12 Jul 2027Monday
Summer bank holiday30 Aug 2027Monday
Christmas Day Substitute27 Dec 2027Monday (25 Dec falls on Saturday)
Boxing Day Substitute28 Dec 2027Tuesday (26 Dec falls on Sunday)

All UK bank holidays 2028

2028 is a leap year. New Year's Day falls on a Saturday, so the substitute is Monday 3 January · and in Scotland the 2nd January substitute follows on Tuesday 4 January. Easter is later than in 2027, with Good Friday on 14 April. Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall cleanly on a Monday and Tuesday, so there are no December substitutes.

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England & Wales 2028
Official GOV.UK bank holiday list
8 days
HolidayDateDay
New Year's Day Substitute3 Jan 2028Monday (1 Jan falls on Saturday)
Good Friday14 Apr 2028Friday
Easter Monday17 Apr 2028Monday
Early May bank holiday1 May 2028Monday
Spring bank holiday29 May 2028Monday
Summer bank holiday28 Aug 2028Monday
Christmas Day25 Dec 2028Monday
Boxing Day26 Dec 2028Tuesday
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Scotland 2028
Official GOV.UK bank holiday list
9 days
HolidayDateDay
New Year's Day Substitute3 Jan 2028Monday (1 Jan falls on Saturday)
2nd January Substitute4 Jan 2028Tuesday (2 Jan falls on Sunday)
Good Friday14 Apr 2028Friday
Early May bank holiday1 May 2028Monday
Spring bank holiday29 May 2028Monday
Summer bank holiday7 Aug 2028Monday (first Monday of August)
St Andrew's Day30 Nov 2028Thursday
Christmas Day25 Dec 2028Monday
Boxing Day26 Dec 2028Tuesday
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁮󠁩󠁲󠁿
Northern Ireland 2028
Official nidirect bank holiday list
10 days
HolidayDateDay
New Year's Day Substitute3 Jan 2028Monday (1 Jan falls on Saturday)
St Patrick's Day17 Mar 2028Friday
Good Friday14 Apr 2028Friday
Easter Monday17 Apr 2028Monday
Early May bank holiday1 May 2028Monday
Spring bank holiday29 May 2028Monday
Battle of the Boyne12 Jul 2028Wednesday
Summer bank holiday28 Aug 2028Monday
Christmas Day25 Dec 2028Monday
Boxing Day26 Dec 2028Tuesday

Regional differences explained

The differences between the four nations come down to a handful of unique observances. This table shows where each holiday is observed:

Holiday E&W Scot NI
New Year's Day✓✓✓
2nd January-✓-
St Patrick's Day (17 Mar)--✓
Good Friday✓✓✓
Easter Monday✓-✓
Early May (1st Mon)✓✓✓
Spring (last Mon May)✓✓✓
Battle of the Boyne (12 Jul)--✓
Summer (1st Mon Aug, Scot)-✓-
Summer (last Mon Aug, E&W, NI)✓-✓
St Andrew's Day (30 Nov)-✓-
Christmas Day✓✓✓
Boxing Day✓✓✓
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Cross-border employers: which calendar applies?
If your team works across UK nations, the bank holiday list that applies to each employee is the one set in their employment contract · not the nation where the head office sits. Spell this out in writing to avoid disputes, especially around Easter Monday and the August dates.

Long weekends and leave hacks

Used well, the bank holiday calendar can stretch annual leave a long way. Here are the strongest opportunities across 2027 and 2028:

Easter 2027 · 10 days off for 4 days leave
Sat 20 Mar · Mon 29 Mar
Take Mon 22, Tue 23, Wed 24, and Thu 25 March off. With Good Friday (26 Mar) and Easter Monday (29 Mar) on either side of two weekends, that gives a 10-day stretch for 4 days of annual leave. Applies in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Easter 2028 · 10 days off for 4 days leave
Fri 14 Apr · Sun 23 Apr
Take Tue 18, Wed 19, Thu 20, and Fri 21 April off. With Good Friday (14 Apr) and Easter Monday (17 Apr) leading in, you get a 10-day run for 4 days of leave. Applies in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Early May 2027 · 9 days off for 4 days leave
Sat 1 May · Sun 9 May
Take Tue 4, Wed 5, Thu 6, and Fri 7 May off. Combined with the Early May bank holiday on Monday 3 May and the weekends either side, that's 9 days off for 4 days of annual leave.
Christmas 2027 · 10 days off for 3 days leave
Sat 25 Dec · Mon 3 Jan
With the Christmas and Boxing Day substitutes on Mon 27 and Tue 28 December, plus the New Year's Day substitute on Mon 3 January 2028, booking just Wed 29, Thu 30, and Fri 31 December gives a 10-day break for 3 days of leave.

To work out exactly how many working days a date range spans for your own team and region, the free UK working days calculator uses the official GOV.UK bank holiday feed for England & Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

What this means for employers

The legal position on bank holidays is more permissive than most staff assume. The key points:

  1. No automatic right to paid time off. The Working Time Regulations 1998 entitle workers to 5.6 weeks of paid leave · they say nothing specific about bank holidays. Whether bank holidays form part of that 5.6 weeks, sit on top, or aren't paid at all is a matter for the contract. (Our guide to UK annual leave entitlement covers the underlying rules in detail.)
  2. No statutory premium pay for working bank holidays. Time-and-a-half or double-time only applies if the contract says so. Many UK employers offer no premium at all, and the law doesn't require one.
  3. Substitute days have full legal weight. When a bank holiday is moved (for example, New Year's Day 2028 to Monday 3 January), the substitute weekday is the bank holiday for all legal and contractual purposes.
  4. Part-timers must be treated equivalently. Under the Part-time Workers Regulations 2000, if full-timers get bank holidays paid, part-timers must get a pro-rata share of the bank holiday allowance, even if the holiday doesn't fall on their normal working day. Our part-time holiday entitlement guide walks through the pro-rata calculation.
  5. Contracts can require working a bank holiday. Many shift, retail, hospitality, and care contracts require staff to work on bank holidays as a normal working day, sometimes with a day off in lieu.
From the makers of this guide
Bank holidays loaded automatically, never out of anyone's allowance
Book Time Off pulls the official bank holidays for England & Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland straight from the GOV.UK feed. Pick the right region per person and the days appear on the calendar and wallchart without ever touching someone's leave balance · so a 2027 Christmas substitute, a Scottish 2nd January, or a Northern Irish St Patrick's Day is handled correctly without manual edits.
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Best practice for clarity
In the contract or staff handbook, state explicitly: (a) whether bank holidays count toward the 5.6-week statutory minimum or are additional; (b) what happens when a bank holiday falls on a non-working day for a part-timer; (c) any premium pay rate for working a bank holiday; (d) which nation's calendar applies if you have cross-border staff. The bank holiday policy template has ready-to-use wording for all four points, including a pro-rata clause for part-timers and a shutdown clause for Christmas closures.

Closing the office between Christmas and New Year, as the 2027 calendar invites? See our Christmas shutdown policy guide for when you can require staff to take the days as leave and the notice the law needs.

Sources

Every date in this guide is taken from the official UK government sources. For the latest published list (and downloadable .ics calendar files), go to:

SourceWhat it covers
GOV.UK · Bank holidays Official list for England & Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Includes downloadable .ics calendar files. Dates in this guide were verified against the GOV.UK feed in June 2026.
nidirect · Bank holidays Northern Ireland-specific guidance, including substitute day rules.
GOV.UK · Holiday entitlement rights The 5.6-week statutory minimum and how bank holidays interact with annual leave.
Working Time Regulations 1998 The statutory framework for paid annual leave.
Part-time Workers Regulations 2000 Rules on equivalent treatment of part-time staff.
ACAS · Checking holiday entitlement Practical guidance on bank holiday treatment in the leave year.

Frequently asked questions

The questions UK employers and staff ask most often about bank holidays.

How many bank holidays are there in the UK in 2027?

England and Wales have 8 bank holidays in 2027, Scotland has 9, and Northern Ireland has 10. The same totals apply in 2028. The number varies because each nation observes different combinations of regional and religious holidays.

Do employees have a legal right to paid time off on UK bank holidays?

No. There is no automatic statutory right to paid leave on bank or public holidays in the UK. Whether bank holidays are paid time off depends entirely on the employment contract. Many employers grant them either as part of the 5.6-week statutory minimum or in addition to it.

What happens when a UK bank holiday falls on a weekend in 2027 and 2028?

When a bank holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, a substitute weekday becomes the bank holiday · normally the following Monday. In 2027, both Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on the weekend, with substitutes on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December. In 2028, New Year's Day falls on a Saturday, so the substitute is Monday 3 January.

Why does Scotland have different bank holidays from England and Wales?

Scotland observes 2nd January and St Andrew's Day (30 November) as bank holidays, neither of which apply elsewhere in the UK. Scotland also does not observe Easter Monday and takes the Summer Bank Holiday on the first Monday of August (rather than the last Monday). These differences are set in Scottish law.

Are part-time workers entitled to bank holidays in the UK?

Part-time workers must be treated no less favourably than full-timers under the Part-time Workers Regulations 2000. If full-timers receive bank holidays as paid time off, part-timers must receive a pro-rata share of the bank holiday allowance, even if those bank holidays don't fall on their normal working days.

Can my employer make me work on a bank holiday?

Yes, if your employment contract says so. There is no automatic right to refuse work on a bank holiday. Whether you receive enhanced pay (such as time-and-a-half or double time) depends entirely on the contract · there is no statutory premium pay rate for bank holiday work.

About this guide

Written by the Book Time Off editorial team. We build leave management software for UK SMEs and write practical guides on UK employment law, holiday entitlement, and HR best practice. All dates are verified against GOV.UK and nidirect at the time of publication and reviewed annually.

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This is not legal advice
This guide summarises publicly available UK government information. It is general guidance, not legal advice on a specific contract or workplace situation. For complex cases · particularly disputes over enhanced pay, cross-border contracts, or part-time bank holiday entitlement · consult a qualified employment law solicitor or contact the ACAS helpline.