Bank holidays
Substitute bank holidays
Pick a year: the bank holidays that fall at a weekend and the weekday each one moves to.
Which bank holidays move in a given year
Substitute days
2
| Christmas Day (Saturday) | 27 December 2027 |
| Boxing Day (Sunday) | 28 December 2027 |
England and Wales, by the rule; one-off royal changes are not in this count.
A substitute bank holiday is the weekday given when a bank holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday. The procedure is the same in every part of the UK: first, every holiday that falls on a weekday stays where it is; then each holiday that falls at a weekend, taken in calendar order, moves to the next weekday that is not already a holiday. In practice that means the following Monday, unless two holidays share a weekend, in which case the second goes to the Tuesday. Only days with a fixed date can move: New Year's Day, 2 January in Scotland, St Patrick's Day and the Twelfth in Northern Ireland, St Andrew's Day in Scotland, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. England and Wales have 1 substitute day in 2026, 2 in 2027 and 1 in 2028. Substitute days are set partly by the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 and partly by royal proclamation each year.
Bank holidays in a year, by nation
Bank holidays
8
| On a Monday | 5 |
| On a Friday | 2 |
| Long weekends | 7 |
| Substitute days | 2 |
England and Wales, 2027, as published by GOV.UK.
Rules and dates checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Every substitute day, 2026 to 2035
| Year | England and Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 28 December 2026 for Boxing Day | 28 December 2026 for Boxing Day | 13 July 2026 for Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen's Day); 28 December 2026 for Boxing Day |
| 2027 | 27 December 2027 for Christmas Day; 28 December 2027 for Boxing Day | 4 January 2027 for 2nd January; 27 December 2027 for Christmas Day; 28 December 2027 for Boxing Day | 27 December 2027 for Christmas Day; 28 December 2027 for Boxing Day |
| 2028 | 3 January 2028 for New Year's Day | 3 January 2028 for New Year's Day; 4 January 2028 for 2nd January | 3 January 2028 for New Year's Day |
| 2029 | none | none | 19 March 2029 for St Patrick's Day |
| 2030 | none | 2 December 2030 for St Andrew's Day | 18 March 2030 for St Patrick's Day |
| 2031 | none | 1 December 2031 for St Andrew's Day | 14 July 2031 for Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen's Day) |
| 2032 | 27 December 2032 for Christmas Day; 28 December 2032 for Boxing Day | 27 December 2032 for Christmas Day; 28 December 2032 for Boxing Day | 27 December 2032 for Christmas Day; 28 December 2032 for Boxing Day |
| 2033 | 3 January 2033 for New Year's Day; 27 December 2033 for Christmas Day | 3 January 2033 for New Year's Day; 4 January 2033 for 2nd January; 27 December 2033 for Christmas Day | 3 January 2033 for New Year's Day; 27 December 2033 for Christmas Day |
| 2034 | 2 January 2034 for New Year's Day | 3 January 2034 for New Year's Day | 2 January 2034 for New Year's Day |
| 2035 | none | none | 19 March 2035 for St Patrick's Day |
Where the rule is written
There is no single article of law that states the procedure. It comes from three sources that point the same way. Schedule 1 to the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 has a few built-in moves: Boxing Day becomes 27 December when the 26th is a Sunday, and in Scotland 1 and 2 January and Christmas Day move when they fall on a Sunday. Every other weekend case is dealt with by royal proclamation under section 1(3), which appoints the substitute day as an extra bank holiday; the 2027 proclamation appoints Tuesday 28 December in this way. And St Andrew's Day has its own clause in the 2007 Act.
Put together, those sources produce the procedure described above. The engine of this site applies it to every year and nation, and its tests compare the result with every year of the GOV.UK list from 2019 to 2028: the only differences are the one-off holidays for national events, which no rule can predict.
Worked examples
New Year 2028 in Scotland: 1 January is a Saturday and 2 January a Sunday. Neither stays. New Year's Day moves first, to Monday 3 January; the 2nd moves to the next free weekday, Tuesday 4 January. England, Wales and Northern Ireland only have New Year's Day, which moves to the Monday.
The Twelfth in 2026: 12 July was a Sunday, so the Northern Ireland holiday was Monday 13 July. Nothing else was nearby, so there was no knock-on effect.
Christmas 2026: Christmas Day is a Friday and stays put. Boxing Day is a Saturday and moves to Monday 28 December. Christmas 2027 is the double case described in the answers below.
Why it matters for counting
A substitute day is a full bank holiday. Banks close, payments due that day move, and deadlines counted in working days skip it. It also changes the count of working days in the month: December 2027 loses its Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th rather than the Saturday and Sunday. The simulator under the summary gives the total number of bank holidays for each nation and year, and the Christmas bank holidays page lists the Christmas moves year by year.