Apollo's Templates
United Kingdom

UK Bank Holidays

The UK has six bank holidays observed everywhere — and then the nations diverge. Scotland adds 2nd January and St Andrew’s Day, skips Easter Monday, and takes its summer holiday at the start of August instead of the end. Northern Ireland adds St Patrick’s Day and the Battle of the Boyne. This page lays out the UK-wide dates for 2026 and 2027, then what each nation adds on top.

Dates are generated from the legislated rules and validated against the official gov.uk bank-holidays feed, including the substitute days granted when a fixed holiday lands on a weekend. For payroll, contracts or anything load-bearing, confirm against the official list for your nation — linked in each section below.

Bank holidays observed across the whole UK

Common to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Substitute days are shown where a holiday falls on a weekend.

Bank holiday20262027
New Year's DayThu 1 Jan 2026Fri 1 Jan 2027
Good FridayFri 3 Apr 2026Fri 26 Mar 2027
Early May bank holidayMon 4 May 2026Mon 3 May 2027
Spring bank holidayMon 25 May 2026Mon 31 May 2027
Christmas DayFri 25 Dec 2026Sat 25 Dec 2027
Boxing DaySat 26 Dec 2026Sun 26 Dec 2027
Boxing Day (substitute)Mon 28 Dec 2026Mon 27 Dec 2027

Rows are matched position-for-position across the two years; where a substitute day exists in one year and not the other the cell reads “—”, which is the honest answer rather than a shifted date.

What each nation adds — 2027

These are in addition to the UK-wide holidays above, except where noted. Every nation also observes all six of the common dates.

England & Wales bank holidays 2027

  • Easter Monday — Mon 29 Mar 2027
  • Summer bank holiday — Mon 30 Aug 2027
Official dates → gov.uk

Scotland bank holidays 2027

Scotland does not observe Easter Monday, and its summer bank holiday is the first Monday in August — several weeks earlier than the rest of the UK.

  • 2nd January — Sat 2 Jan 2027
  • 2nd January (substitute) — Mon 4 Jan 2027
  • Summer bank holiday — Mon 2 Aug 2027
  • St Andrew's Day — Tue 30 Nov 2027
Official dates → mygov.scot

Northern Ireland bank holidays 2027

  • St Patrick's Day — Wed 17 Mar 2027
  • Easter Monday — Mon 29 Mar 2027
  • Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen's Day) — Mon 12 Jul 2027
  • Summer bank holiday — Mon 30 Aug 2027
Official dates → nidirect.gov.uk
UK tax year
UK Fiscal Year Calendar
The 6 April–5 April tax year on one printable page — for HMRC deadlines and payroll.
Open →
Fillable
UK Monthly Event Calendar
Type your own events onto a UK month — bank holidays already marked.
Open →
Whole year
UK Yearly Event Calendar
All twelve months on one sheet with UK bank holidays in place.
Open →

Frequently asked questions

Which bank holidays are the same across the whole UK?
Six are common to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, the Early May bank holiday, the Spring bank holiday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Everything else is set by the individual nation — Scotland adds 2nd January and St Andrew’s Day and takes its summer holiday at the start of August rather than the end, while Northern Ireland adds St Patrick’s Day and the Battle of the Boyne. Scotland is also the one nation that does not observe Easter Monday as a bank holiday.
Why does Scotland’s summer bank holiday fall on a different date?
Scotland observes its summer bank holiday on the FIRST Monday in August, while England, Wales and Northern Ireland take the LAST Monday in August. It is a genuine three-to-four week difference, not an error — if you run payroll or schedule deliveries across the border, the two dates are several weeks apart and both need to be in the calendar.
What happens when a UK bank holiday falls on a weekend?
A substitute weekday is granted — normally the next weekday that is not already a bank holiday. The classic case is Christmas: when Christmas Day and Boxing Day land on a weekend, the substitute days cascade into the following Monday and Tuesday. The tables on this page already include those substitute days, labelled “(substitute)”, so what you see is what is actually taken off.
Are bank holidays the same as statutory paid leave in the UK?
No, and this catches people out. There is no automatic legal right to paid leave on a bank holiday in the UK — whether you get the day off, and whether it is paid, depends on your employment contract. Employers may also count bank holidays towards your statutory 5.6 weeks of annual leave. Treat this page as the calendar, and your contract as the entitlement.
Do these dates include one-off bank holidays?
Yes, where they have been gazetted. One-off bank holidays — royal jubilees, coronations, national celebrations — are declared ad-hoc by Royal Proclamation rather than by a fixed rule, so they cannot be computed in advance. Any that have been announced are listed with the nation that observes them and flagged as a one-off. Anything not yet proclaimed cannot appear here until it is announced.
Updated through August 2026