Public holidays in United Kingdom, 2028
United Kingdom observes 5 nationwide public holidays in 2028. After weekends and those holidays are removed, the working year comes to 255 days.
Every public holiday in 2028
| Date | Day | Holiday | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, 3 Jan | Monday | New Year's Day | GB-ENG, GB-NIR, GB-SCT, GB-WLS |
| Tue, 4 Jan | Tuesday | 2 January | GB-SCT |
| Fri, 17 Mar | Friday | Saint Patrick's Day | GB-NIR |
| Fri, 14 Apr | Friday | Good Friday | Nationwide |
| Mon, 17 Apr | Monday | Easter Monday | GB-ENG, GB-WLS, GB-NIR |
| Mon, 1 May | Monday | Early May Bank Holiday | Nationwide |
| Mon, 29 May | Monday | Spring Bank Holiday | Nationwide |
| Wed, 12 Jul | Wednesday | Battle of the Boyne | GB-NIR |
| Mon, 7 Aug | Monday | Summer Bank Holiday | GB-SCT |
| Mon, 28 Aug | Monday | Summer Bank Holiday | GB-ENG, GB-WLS, GB-NIR |
| Thu, 30 Nov | Thursday | Saint Andrew's Day | GB-SCT |
| Mon, 25 Dec | Monday | Christmas Day | Nationwide |
| Tue, 26 Dec | Tuesday | St. Stephen's Day Boxing Day |
Nationwide |
8 further dates are observed in some regions only and are not counted in the working day totals above.
Working days month by month
| Month | Calendar days | Weekend | Holidays | Working days | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| February | 29 | 8 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| March | 31 | 8 | 0 | 23 | 184 |
| April | 30 | 10 | 1 | 19 | 152 |
| May | 31 | 8 | 2 | 21 | 168 |
| June | 30 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| July | 31 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| August | 31 | 8 | 0 | 23 | 184 |
| September | 30 | 9 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| October | 31 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| November | 30 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| December | 31 | 10 | 2 | 19 | 152 |
| Year | 366 | 106 | 5 | 255 | 2,040 |
Reading these figures
The working day count treats Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, which is the standard working week in United Kingdom. Only nationwide holidays are deducted; a date observed in one region alone still counts as a working day here, because a national figure that moved with regional calendars would describe nobody accurately.
The longest working month is March at 23 days; the shortest is December at 19. That spread of 4 days matters for anything billed or accrued monthly, which is why payroll and capacity plans that assume an even year drift by the end of it. The thinnest quarter is Q2, carrying 62 working days across April, May, June.
Compared with 2027, which held 256 working days, 2028 is 1 working day shorter. Where a target is carried over from one year to the next unchanged, that difference is absorbed silently unless someone accounts for it.
Against the 204 countries covered here for 2028, United Kingdom's 5 nationwide holidays put it below the median of 12, around the 5th percentile. The range across all countries this year runs from 3 to 50.
The holidays produce 4 breaks of three consecutive non-working days or more. The longest runs 4 days, from 23 December 2028 to 26 December 2028, built around Christmas Day and St. Stephen's Day. The full breakdown is here.
5 of this year's holidays sit on a different calendar date than in 2027: Good Friday, Early May Bank Holiday, Spring Bank Holiday, Christmas Day, St. Stephen's Day. Dates that move cannot be carried forward from last year's planning spreadsheet, which is the most common way a holiday is missed.
Notes on United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has three different calendars rather than one. England and Wales, Scotland,
and Northern Ireland each have their own set of bank holidays. Scotland observes 2 January;
Northern Ireland observes 17 March and 12 July; the summer bank holiday falls in early August in
Scotland and late August elsewhere.
Where a bank holiday falls on a weekend, a substitute weekday is given, so the number of working
days changes little from year to year.
Bank holidays are not a statutory entitlement to paid leave. An employment contract may require
work on them, and many in retail, hospitality and healthcare do. The figures here describe the
calendar rather than any individual entitlement.