Bank holidays 2028 in the UK

The 2028 lists

Northern Ireland adds St Patrick's Day on Friday, 17 March 2028 and the Battle of the Boyne on Wednesday, 12 July 2028, both on weekdays, so neither moves.

Why a list two years ahead can be trusted

Most of the calendar is fixed in law. Schedule 1 to the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 names Easter Monday, the last Monday in May, the last Monday in August and 26 December for England and Wales, with a substitute rule when 26 December is a Sunday. The other days are appointed each year by proclamation under section 1, and the pattern has not changed since 1978, apart from one-off moves for national events. That is why GOV.UK can print 2028 in 2026, and why the engine of this site, which works from the rules, gives exactly the same list.

What a published list cannot rule out is a special holiday. Jubilees, coronations and, in Scotland, a World Cup have all added days at a few months' notice. If one is announced for 2028 it will appear on GOV.UK, and the monthly check this site runs against the official list will pick it up.

Substitute days in 2028

Only the New Year holidays move in 2028. The simulator above shows which holidays move in any year from 2026 to 2035; the substitute days page explains the procedure, including what happens when two holidays fall on the same weekend, as in Scotland this January. In Scotland, St Andrew's Day falls on a Thursday and stays put; under the 2007 Act it would move to the Monday if it fell at a weekend.

Planning 2028 early

A late Easter and the early May Monday only two weeks apart make spring 2028 good for leave: booking the four working days between Easter Monday and the next weekend gives ten days off. August follows the usual pattern, and Christmas falls well: from Saturday 23 December to Tuesday 26 December is four days off without using any leave. The 2027 page gives the year before for comparison, and the May bank holidays page lists both May Mondays to 2035.