Website of the UK government

Bank holiday dates

The expected dates of bank and public holidays in England, Wales and Scotland are listed below.

When the usual date of a bank or public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, a 'substitute day' is given, normally the following Monday. For example in 2009, Boxing Day was on Saturday, 26 December, so there was a substitute bank holiday on Monday, 28 December.

England and Wales

There are currently eight permanent bank holidays in England and Wales and an additional one in 2012:

England and Wales	2010	2011	2012
New Year's Day	1 January	3 January*	2 January*
Good Friday	2 April	22 April	6 April
Easter Monday	5 April	25 April	9 April
Early May Bank Holiday	3 May	2 May	7 May
Spring Bank Holiday	31 May	30 May	4 June*
Queen's Diamond Jubilee	-	-	5 June
Summer Bank Holiday	30 August	29 August	27 August
Christmas Day	27 December*	26 December*	25 December
Boxing Day	28 December*	27 December*	26 December
* substitute day

Scotland

There are nine statutory bank holidays across the whole of Scotland. There are also other public or local holidays which can be determined by local authorities, based on local tradition. Since 2007, St Andrew's Day has been an alternative, voluntary public holiday, which can replace an existing local holiday.

Businesses and schools are not necessarily closed on Scottish bank holidays, and the Scottish banks follow the English and Welsh bank holidays for business reasons.

Scotland	2010	2011	2012
New Year's Day	1 January	3 January*	2 January*
2nd January	4 January*	4 January*	3 January
Good Friday	2 April	22 April	6 April
Early May Bank Holiday	3 May	2 May	7 May
Spring Bank Holiday	31 May	30 May	28 May
Summer Bank Holiday	2 August	1 August	6 August
St Andrew's Day	30 November	30 November	30 November
Christmas Day	27 December*	26 December*	25 December
Boxing Day	28 December*	27 December*	26 December
* substitute day

Scotland has not yet made a decision on the additional bank holiday for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

• Bank holidays in Scotland Opens new window

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, there are ten permanent bank holidays - the same eight as in England and Wales, plus St Patrick's Day and the Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. For more information see the nidirect website.

• Bank and pubic holiday dates in Northern Ireland Opens new window

Special bank holidays

There are laws that allow the dates of bank holidays to be changed, or other holidays to be declared, for example to celebrate special occasions.

It has been announced that there will be a special bank holiday in 2012 to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The 2012 late May bank holiday will be moved to Monday 4 June 2012 and an additional Jubilee bank holiday will be on Tuesday 5 June 2012. 

• The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Opens new window

Time off for employees

You don't have an automatic right to paid leave on bank and public holidays, though many people receive the day off work. Any right to time off or extra pay for working on a bank holiday depends on the terms of your contract of employment.

For more information about your right to paid leave, see 'Holiday entitlements'.

• Holiday entitlements (employment section)

British Summer Time

British Summer Time (BST) starts on the last Sunday in March and ends on the last Sunday in October, at 1.00 am Greenwich Mean Time (GMT):

• in spring the clocks go forward, losing an hour - at 1.00 am GMT the UK moves to 2.00 am BST
• in autumn the clocks go back, giving an extra hour - at 2.00 am BST the UK moves to 1.00 am GMT

Summer time periods begin and end on the following dates:

	2010	2011	2012
Clocks go forward	28 March	27 March	25 March
Clocks go back	31 October	30 October	28 October

More useful links

• School holidays and term dates (parents section)

• Journey planner (travel and transport section)

• Leisure and recreation (home and community section)

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