UK Bank Holidays by Region: England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland
The UK has three different sets of bank holidays, not one. Here's the full list for England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland — and why it matters for staff holiday entitlement.
The UK doesn't have one set of bank holidays — it has three. England & Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland each have their own list, and they don't line up. If you run a team across more than one nation, or you employ someone in Scotland or Northern Ireland, treating them all the same will mis-calculate someone's leave.
Here's the full breakdown by nation, and what it means for staff holiday entitlement.
How many bank holidays are there in the UK?
It depends where you are:
- England & Wales — 8 bank holidays
- Scotland — 9 bank holidays
- Northern Ireland — 10 bank holidays
The headline catches a lot of employers out: Easter Monday is a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland but not Scotland, while St Andrew's Day is a bank holiday in Scotland but nowhere else.
Bank holidays by nation
England & Wales
New Year's Day · Good Friday · Easter Monday · Early May bank holiday · Spring bank holiday · Summer bank holiday (last Monday in August) · Christmas Day · Boxing Day.
Scotland
New Year's Day · 2 January · Good Friday · Early May bank holiday · Spring bank holiday · Summer bank holiday (first Monday in August) · St Andrew's Day (30 November) · Christmas Day · Boxing Day. Note: no Easter Monday, and the summer bank holiday falls earlier than in England.
Northern Ireland
New Year's Day · St Patrick's Day (17 March) · Good Friday · Easter Monday · Early May bank holiday · Spring bank holiday · Battle of the Boyne / Orangemen's Day (12 July) · Summer bank holiday (last Monday in August) · Christmas Day · Boxing Day.
When a bank holiday falls on a weekend, a substitute day (usually the following Monday or Tuesday) is given in lieu.
Do bank holidays count towards the 28-day holiday entitlement?
This is the question that trips up most employers, and the answer is: it's your choice — but it must match the employment contract.
UK law gives full-time workers a minimum of 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year, which works out at 28 days for someone working five days a week. There are two legal ways to treat bank holidays:
- Inclusive — the 28 days include bank holidays. A full-timer gets 20 days of "free choice" leave plus 8 bank holidays = 28 days total.
- On top — bank holidays are paid time off in addition to the 28 days, giving 36 days in total.
Either is lawful, but you must state clearly in the contract which one applies — and the number of bank holidays differs by nation, which is exactly why the region you operate in matters to the maths.
Why region matters for employers
Getting the region wrong has knock-on effects:
- Entitlement totals are wrong if bank holidays are inclusive and you used the wrong nation's count.
- Calendars and cover planning show the wrong days off.
- Cross-border teams need a clear policy — most systems (and most employers) apply one bank-holiday region per organisation rather than per employee, so you pick the region matching your registered office or largest cohort and handle exceptions manually.
Bank holiday region only affects holiday/leave dates. It does not change Statutory Sick Pay, parental leave rules, or holiday pay calculations — those apply UK-wide.
Keeping it right automatically
Maintaining three regional bank-holiday lists by hand — including the moveable Easter dates and weekend substitutions — is fiddly and easy to get wrong year to year.
Coverboard stores the correct bank holidays for all three UK regions, calculates the moveable dates (like Easter) for any year automatically, handles weekend substitutions, and lets you set your organisation's region in one click — so entitlement totals and team calendars stay correct without manual upkeep.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. For decisions about a specific contract or employee, consult an employment law professional.