OnSumoTools

UK Working Days Calculator

Count business days between two dates, skipping weekends and UK bank holidays for your region.

Date range

UK region

Working days (England & Wales)

22

Calendar days in range

30

Weekends excluded

8

Bank holidays excluded

0

Working days

22

Per-week breakdown

WeekWorkingWeekendsHolidays
Week of 2026-11-08210
Week of 2026-11-15520
Week of 2026-11-22520
Week of 2026-11-29520
Week of 2026-12-06510

Add deadline to Google Calendar

Bank holiday dates follow GOV.UK rules through 2030. Confirm contract deadlines against your employer calendar.

How does the Working Days Calculator UK work step by step?

Select your start date, end date, and UK region. The calculator steps through every calendar day in the range, skips Saturdays and Sundays, skips bank holidays for the selected region, and counts the remaining days as working days.

What does a typical Working Days Calculator UK result look like?

Start: 20 December 2024. End: 3 January 2025. Region: England and Wales. Calendar days: 15 (Dec 20 to Jan 3) Weekends removed: Dec 21-22, Dec 28-29, Jan 4-5 (but Jan 4 is outside range) = 4 weekend days in range Bank holidays removed: Dec 25 (Christmas), Dec 26 (Boxing Day), Jan 1 (New Year's) = 3 days Working days: 15 - 4 weekends - 3 bank holidays = 8 working days Scotland result: same, because Jan 2 falls on a Thursday in this example, but in years where Jan 2 is a weekday, Scotland gets one

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Frequently asked questions

  • Why are Scottish bank holidays different?

    Scotland has distinct bank holiday dates rooted in historical and legal differences from England. Scotland observes 2 January as a bank holiday (Hogmanay tradition), has different summer bank holiday dates, and does not observe Easter Monday. Scotland also has a separate legal system and separate bank holiday legislation.

  • Does this include Good Friday?

    Good Friday is a bank holiday in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, but not in Scotland. Easter bank holiday dates change every year because Easter is a moveable feast calculated from the lunar calendar. The calculator applies the correct dates for each year.

  • What are custom holidays for?

    Custom holidays let you add company-specific closure days that are not on the official bank holiday calendar. Common uses include company Christmas shut-down periods (beyond the statutory days), local observance days, or one-off closure dates for specific projects.

  • Does the start date count as a working day?

    By default, yes. The \\\"include start date\\\" toggle is on. If your deadline calculation should exclude the start date (for example, a notice period starting the day after an event), switch the toggle off.

  • What is the difference between a bank holiday and a public holiday?

    In the UK, bank holidays are statutory days when banks are required to close by law. Public holiday is a broader term that includes bank holidays. In practice, most UK employers treat bank holidays as paid days off, but this is a contractual matter, check your employment contract or HR policy for specific treatment.

  • Can I compare working days across all three UK regions?

    Yes. Enable the \\\"compare all regions\\\" option to see the working day count for England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland simultaneously. This is useful for contracts or projects spanning multiple regions where delivery timelines differ.

Working days across the UK

The UK isn't one calendar. England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own bank holidays. Count a deadline using the wrong region and you can be a day out, which matters for contracts, payments and legal notices.

Choose a region and a date range. The calculator removes weekends and the bank holidays for that region through 2030, and shows the working day total. You can also compare all three regions side by side.

What differs by region

Scotland has a bank holiday on 2 January and a different summer date. Northern Ireland adds St Patrick's Day and the Twelfth of July. England and Wales share most dates, though some special one-off holidays have been added for royal events.

Good Friday and Easter Monday are bank holidays in England and Wales. Easter Monday is not a bank holiday in Scotland, which uses its own arrangements.

  • England and Wales: same list in most years
  • Scotland: extra January date and different August date
  • Northern Ireland: St Patrick's Day and 12 July, among others

Bank holiday or public holiday?

A bank holiday is a day banks close, set by law or royal proclamation. A public holiday is a wider term. In practice, most people mean the same thing. Whether you get the day off depends on your contract, since employers aren't always required to give paid leave on them.

When a bank holiday falls on a weekend, a substitute day usually follows on the next working day. The tool handles that.

Custom dates and the start day

Add company shutdowns or local closures as custom holidays. Decide whether your count includes the start date. This tool counts it as day zero by default, so a task starting Monday with 5 working days ends the next Monday, not Friday.

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An example that shows the gap

A solicitor tells you a reply is due within 5 working days of Thursday, December 18. Count Friday as one, then Monday, Tuesday, and you run into December 25 and 26. The answer isn't the following Thursday. It's the first days of January. Calendar thinking gets this wrong all the time.

The calculator handles the weekend skip and the holiday skip together, and shows the finishing date plainly.

Try changing the start day. Starting on a Friday afternoon often shifts the end date by a full weekend.

Common places this comes up

Notice periods in employment, conveyancing timelines, council response limits, HMRC deadlines and parcel promises all use working days. Royal Mail and couriers often exclude Sunday and bank holidays, while some add Saturday, so check the carrier's own rule.

Statutory timelines sometimes say 'clear days', which means you don't count the day of the event or the day the period ends. That's a stricter count and can add a day or two.

If a deadline matters legally, do the count here and then add a safety day.

Regional quirks

Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own bank holidays. Northern Ireland marks St Patrick's Day and the Twelfth of July, and Scotland has the 2 January holiday and a different August date. Pick the right region and the count follows.

Substitute days appear when a holiday lands on a weekend, usually the next Monday. The tool takes that into account so you don't have to remember which year had which shift.