OneTaskBy Tim King · Updated
UK Working Days Calculator
Working Days Between Two Dates with Bank Holidays for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland
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How the UK Working Days Calculator works
This UK working days calculator counts the working days between two dates. Enter two dates, choose which UK nation's bank holidays apply, and the readout counts the working days between them: Monday to Friday, both dates included, with bank holidays and substitute days taken out. Add a number of leave days or company closure days and they come off too. Alongside the working days you get the weekend days, the bank holidays that landed on weekdays, the total span and the equivalent working weeks, plus a table of every bank holiday in the range and whether it counted.
The formula. Working days = weekdays between the two dates, both included, − bank holidays that fall on a weekday. For example, 2026 has 261 weekdays and England and Wales lose 8 to bank holidays, leaving 253. A second example: Scotland has 9 weekday holidays in 2026, leaving 252. Subtract leave days to see how many working days a person actually has.
The UK does not have one set of bank holidays. England and Wales have eight, Scotland has nine and Northern Ireland has ten, and the dates differ as well as the count, so a working-day figure is only correct for the nation it was calculated for. This page holds all three calendars and applies the substitute-day rule that moves a weekend holiday to the next weekday.
England and Wales. New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, the early May bank holiday on the first Monday of May, the spring bank holiday on the last Monday of May, the summer bank holiday on the last Monday of August, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. In 2026 Boxing Day is a Saturday, so the substitute is Monday 28 December.
Scotland. New Year's Day and 2 January, Good Friday but not Easter Monday, the early May and spring bank holidays, a summer bank holiday on the first Monday of August rather than the last, St Andrew's Day on 30 November, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Many Scottish employers do not close on all of these and substitute local holidays; the calendar here is the official one.
Northern Ireland. Everything England and Wales has, plus St Patrick's Day on 17 March and the Battle of the Boyne holiday on 12 July, each moved to the Monday when it falls on a weekend.
Counting rule. Both the from and to dates are counted, so Monday to Friday of the same week is five working days. If you want the days remaining after today, set the from date to tomorrow. Swapping the dates gives the same answer; the order does not matter.
Annual leave and closures. The extra box deducts a plain number of days from the working total, for statutory leave (28 days for a full-time worker, which may include the bank holidays depending on the contract), company shutdowns between Christmas and New Year, or known absence. It does not check that those days fall inside the range, so enter only the days you will actually take between the two dates.
One-off holidays. The government occasionally adds a bank holiday for a coronation, jubilee or state funeral, as in 2022 and 2023. These are not in the calendar. If one is announced for a year you are counting, deduct it using the extra box.
UK working days calculator by year
Full calendar years, Monday to Friday, less bank holidays on weekdays.
Working days and weekday bank holidays by UK region and year
| Region and year | Working days | Weekday holidays | Working weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales 2026 | 253 | 8 | 50.6 |
| Scotland 2026 | 252 | 9 | 50.4 |
| Northern Ireland 2026 | 251 | 10 | 50.2 |
| England and Wales 2027 | 253 | 8 | 50.6 |
| Scotland 2027 | 252 | 9 | 50.4 |
| Northern Ireland 2027 | 251 | 10 | 50.2 |
| England and Wales 2028 | 252 | 8 | 50.4 |
| Scotland 2028 | 251 | 9 | 50.2 |
| Northern Ireland 2028 | 250 | 10 | 50.0 |
| England and Wales 2029 | 253 | 8 | 50.6 |
| Scotland 2029 | 252 | 9 | 50.4 |
| Northern Ireland 2029 | 251 | 10 | 50.2 |
| England and Wales 2030 | 253 | 8 | 50.6 |
| Scotland 2030 | 252 | 9 | 50.4 |
| Northern Ireland 2030 | 251 | 10 | 50.2 |
| England and Wales 2031 | 253 | 8 | 50.6 |
| Scotland 2031 | 252 | 9 | 50.4 |
| Northern Ireland 2031 | 251 | 10 | 50.2 |
| England and Wales 2032 | 254 | 8 | 50.8 |
| Scotland 2032 | 253 | 9 | 50.6 |
| Northern Ireland 2032 | 252 | 10 | 50.4 |
FAQ
How many working days are there in 2026 in the UK?
253 in England and Wales, 252 in Scotland and 251 in Northern Ireland. All three have 104 weekend days; the difference is the number of bank holidays falling on weekdays, which is 8, 9 and 10 respectively, with Boxing Day substituted to Monday 28 December in each.
Are bank holidays counted as working days?
No. The calculator removes every bank holiday for the chosen nation that falls on a Monday to Friday, including substitute days that replace a weekend holiday. Whether your employer treats them as leave is a matter of contract, but for counting purposes they are non-working days.
Why does Scotland show different results from England?
Scotland has 2 January and St Andrew's Day, takes its summer bank holiday at the start of August rather than the end, and does not have Easter Monday. Over a full year that is one more bank holiday than England and Wales, but over a shorter range the difference can be zero, one or two days depending on the dates.
Does it count both the start and end date?
Yes, both are included when they are working days. For the working days remaining until a deadline, not counting today, set the from date to tomorrow. For the days between two events exclusive of both, subtract two from the result if both fall on working days.
What about the extra bank holidays for royal events?
One-off holidays such as the coronation in 2023 are announced by the government and are not part of the regular rules, so they are not in the calendar. Deduct them with the other days off box when one applies to your range.
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