Working days between any two UK dates, with weekends and official GOV.UK bank holidays excluded automatically. Switchable between England & Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
22
daysbetween today and today + 30, in England & Wales
A working day in the UK is conventionally any weekday from Monday to Friday that is not a bank holiday. To find the working days between two dates, count the inclusive total, subtract the weekend days, then subtract the bank holidays for the relevant region (8 for England & Wales, 9 for Scotland, 10 for Northern Ireland) that fall on a weekday inside the range.
The calculation uses the same dataset that powers the official GOV.UK bank holidays page and the same arithmetic that any UK accountant or HR manager would do by hand.
Step by step:
Open the Show working steps panel under the calculator to see the actual numbers plugged in for your current date range.
Common date ranges, with the maths shown. Click any of these to load the inputs into the calculator above.
Scotland's 10-bank-holiday count for 2026 is unusual: it includes the standard 9 plus the one-off World Cup bank holiday on Monday 15 June 2026, declared by the Scottish Government to mark the opening week of the FIFA World Cup. England & Wales and Northern Ireland do not have this extra day.
For UK SMEs working out staff annual leave: if you set holiday allowances in days rather than hours, the working-day count between someone's leave dates tells you exactly how many days come off their balance. Pair this calculator with the UK Annual Leave Entitlement Calculator to work out the allowance itself.
For project planning: use the calculator to size workstreams realistically. A 3-week chunk is rarely 21 days of work · in a normal quarter it is closer to 14, and across Easter or Christmas it can drop below 11. The calendar mini-strip in the result shows exactly which days you lose.
For statutory and HMRC deadlines: always check the specific rule. Some HMRC time limits use calendar days, some use working days, and some use specific business days defined elsewhere. The calculator tells you what each measure produces · the rule for your situation tells you which one to use.
For tenancy and contract notice periods: notice periods are usually inclusive on both ends, but the day a notice is served is sometimes excluded. If your contract says "10 working days from the day after service," set the start date to one day after the notice was sent.
The calculator handles weekends and the standard UK bank holidays for England & Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. It does not handle:
For dates outside that window, or for any of the cases above, refer to the official GOV.UK bank holidays page or the relevant local council.
What counts as a working day in the UK?
A working day in the UK is conventionally any day from Monday to Friday that is not a bank holiday. There is no single statutory definition: the Working Time Regulations 1998 use weeks rather than days, and contracts may define working days differently. For most office and professional contexts, Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays is the safe default.
Are weekends counted as working days?
No. This calculator treats Saturday and Sunday as non-working days, which is the standard UK convention. If your business operates on weekends, you can use the calculator to find weekday-and-bank-holiday-free days only and then add weekends manually.
How many working days are there in 2026 in the UK?
In 2026 there are 253 working days in England and Wales (365 minus 104 weekend days minus 8 bank holidays). Scotland has 251 working days because of 2nd January, the World Cup bank holiday on 15 June 2026, and St Andrew's Day, but loses Easter Monday and Boxing Day from the substitute pattern. Northern Ireland has 251 working days, with St Patrick's Day and Battle of the Boyne adding to the standard list.
Why do my dates need to match the GOV.UK bank holiday calendar?
The official bank holiday list is published by the UK Government on gov.uk and updated annually. This calculator uses the same dataset, so the bank holiday counts always match the GOV.UK feed. If a date is shifted (for example Christmas Day falling on a weekend), the substitute weekday is the bank holiday, not the original calendar date.
Can I use this calculator for project deadlines or service-level agreements?
Yes. The most common professional uses are project planning, statutory and HMRC deadlines, SLA tracking, and tenancy or contract notice periods. Always check the specific contract or law for its definition of working day, since some legal contexts use slightly different rules (for example court working days exclude court holidays as well).
Does the calculator handle Scotland's local holidays?
It uses the national Scottish bank holidays from the GOV.UK feed but does not include local council holidays such as Glasgow Fair Monday or Edinburgh Trades. For local-holiday-aware calculations, contact the relevant council or use a local payroll calendar.
Are the start and end dates included in the count?
Yes. The calculator uses an inclusive count, so a range from Monday to Friday in the same week returns 5 working days. If you need an exclusive count (for example for tenancy notice periods that run from the day after the notice is served), simply move the start date one day forward.
Free to embed, attribution included automatically. Paste the snippet below into any web page and the full calculator will load in an iframe.
Every claim and date in this calculator is taken from primary UK government sources. We refresh the bank holiday dataset annually as new years are published.
| Source | What we use it for |
|---|---|
| GOV.UK Bank Holidays | The official list of bank holidays for England & Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland |
| GOV.UK Bank Holidays JSON feed | The structured dataset behind this calculator, refreshed annually |
| Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 | The primary legislation that establishes UK bank holidays |
| Scottish Government · World Cup bank holiday | The one-off 15 June 2026 Scottish bank holiday confirmation |
| Working Time Regulations 1998 | Reference for the UK statutory leave framework that uses working days alongside weeks |
| ACAS · Checking holiday entitlement | Guidance on how working days interact with annual leave and bank holidays |
Not legal or HR advice. This calculator gives accurate working-day counts based on the official GOV.UK bank holidays feed. Always verify against the rule that applies to your specific situation. For guidance call the ACAS helpline on 0300 123 1100 or refer to GOV.UK.
Book Time Off pulls the official bank holidays for England & Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland from the GOV.UK feed automatically. Choose the right region per team · they appear on every calendar and wallchart, never out of anyone's allowance.
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