Three nations, three different lists
There is no single set of UK bank holidays. England and Wales have eight in an ordinary year, Scotland has nine, and Northern Ireland has ten. Most calendars and most calculators show the England and Wales list and label it "UK", which is wrong for anybody north of Carlisle or across the Irish Sea.
Scotland does not have Easter Monday. It has 2 January and St Andrew's Day on 30 November instead, and its summer bank holiday is the first Monday in August rather than the last. Three differences, and the August one regularly catches out anyone planning a shutdown across both countries.
Northern Ireland has the full England and Wales list plus St Patrick's Day on 17 March and the Battle of the Boyne on 12 July.
Substitute days
When a fixed-date holiday lands on a weekend, a substitute is given on the next available weekday. Christmas Day on a Saturday moves to the Monday, and Boxing Day, which wants the same Monday, is pushed to the Tuesday. That chain is worked out here rather than a flat day being added, which is where hand-built lists usually go wrong.
Good Friday and Easter Monday move every year. They are computed rather than looked up, so this keeps working for years nobody has typed into a table yet.
A leave year is not a calendar year
Most employers run a leave year from 1 January or 1 April, and some run one from each person's start date. Switching to the leave year view shows which holidays actually fall inside it, which is the figure that matters when you are working out how much leave is left.
It is not always the same count. A leave year running from April can catch a different number of substitute days than the calendar year does, particularly around a Christmas that falls at a weekend.
There is no right to a bank holiday off
This is the part that surprises people. There is no legal entitlement to bank holidays off, paid or otherwise. An employer may require them to be worked, and may count them within the 5.6 weeks of statutory holiday.
That is what most do: eight bank holidays plus twenty days of annual leave comes to exactly 28, which is the statutory minimum for a five-day week. Where a contract gives bank holidays on top of the full 5.6 weeks, it is more generous than the minimum, and that extra is contractual rather than statutory.
The distinction matters on termination, because only the statutory part must be paid in lieu. It also matters for part-timers: somebody who never works Mondays would get almost no benefit from bank holidays being given on top, which is why a pro rata allocation of bank holiday entitlement is the fairer approach and why plenty of employers use it.
A one-off bank holiday cannot be derived from a rule
One-off bank holidays are announced by the government and cannot be derived from a rule. The ones already announced are included: the Platinum Jubilee and the State Funeral in 2022, the Coronation in 2023, and VE Day 75 in 2020. Anything announced after this page was written will not appear.
Local holidays are not here either. Several Scottish towns and cities keep their own trades holidays, which are local custom rather than statutory bank holidays and vary by council area. Neither are company shutdown days, which are whatever your contract says they are.
Common questions
Are bank holidays the same in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland?
No. England and Wales have eight in an ordinary year, Scotland has nine, and Northern Ireland has ten. Most calendars show the England and Wales list and label it "UK", which is wrong for anybody north of Carlisle or across the Irish Sea.
What bank holidays does Scotland have instead of Easter Monday?
Scotland does not have Easter Monday. It has 2 January and St Andrew's Day on 30 November instead, and its summer bank holiday falls on the first Monday in August rather than the last.
What happens when a bank holiday falls on a weekend?
A substitute day is given on the next available weekday. Christmas Day on a Saturday moves to the Monday, and Boxing Day, which would want the same Monday, is pushed to the Tuesday.
Am I entitled to bank holidays off work?
There is no legal entitlement to bank holidays off, paid or otherwise. An employer may require them to be worked and may count them within the 5.6 weeks of statutory holiday.
What is the difference between a leave year and a calendar year here?
Most employers run a leave year from 1 January or 1 April rather than the calendar year, and a leave year can catch a different number of bank holidays and substitute days than the calendar year does, particularly around a Christmas that falls at a weekend.
Are local Scottish trades holidays included?
No. Several Scottish towns and cities keep their own trades holidays, which are local custom rather than statutory bank holidays and vary by council area, so they are not included here.
Does this include bank holidays that have not been announced yet?
No, it cannot. One-off bank holidays are announced by the government rather than derived from a rule. Only the ones already announced, such as the Coronation in 2023, are included.