Scotland Bank Holidays 2026

Scotland's bank holidays under the 1971 Act, in 2026

Scotland's statutory list is paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971: New Year's Day, 2 January, Good Friday, the first Monday in May, the first Monday in August, 30 November (St Andrew's Day, added by the St Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007) and Christmas Day. The Spring bank holiday and Boxing Day are not in that paragraph; gov.uk lists both for Scotland, and section 1(3) is the Act's power to appoint further bank holidays by proclamation.

The Schedule gives each Scottish date its own weekend rule. New Year's Day and 2 January move to 3 January only from a Sunday, Christmas Day moves to 26 December from a Sunday, and St Andrew's Day is the only one that moves from a Saturday as well, to the first Monday after. In 2026 St Andrew's Day is a Monday and stays on 30 November. 2 January is a Friday and needs no substitute.

Easter Monday (Monday, April 6) and the last Monday in August (Monday, August 31) are bank holidays in England and Wales under paragraph 1 of the Schedule and are not in Scotland's paragraph 2, which has the first Monday in August instead, Monday, August 3. For 2026 gov.uk also lists a World Cup bank holiday on Monday, June 15, in its Scotland list only.

Section 1(4) is the part that bites on deadlines. No one can be compelled to make a payment or do an act on a bank holiday that they could not be compelled to make on Christmas Day or Good Friday, and an obligation falling on one is met by doing it on the next day on which it can be compelled. The Act does not name that day.

Why 2026 gives Scotland fewer working days

A year's working days are its weekdays minus the holidays that land on them, and both halves move. The weekday supply depends only on the year's length and the weekday it starts on; the holiday half depends on where each fixed date falls that year. 2026 runs 365 days, 52 whole weeks and one day over. It opens and closes on a Thursday, so the spare day is a weekday and the year holds 261 of them.

Ten bank holidays in this page's count fall on weekdays, so Scotland has 251 working days in 2026. That is one fewer than 2025 (252). The weekday supply is identical, so the whole change comes from holidays: one more of them lands on a weekday. 2027 rises to 252.

Substitute bank holidays in 2026

When a fixed-date bank holiday lands on a Saturday or Sunday, gov.uk publishes a weekday as the substitute, and the substitute is the bank holiday this page's count skips. In 2026:

• Boxing Day falls on Saturday, December 26, and gov.uk lists Monday, December 28 in its place.

The weekend date itself is not in the table: gov.uk lists only the substitute, and that is the date this page counts.

What Scotland's own days cost in 2026

A bank holiday on Scotland's list takes a working day out of the count only when it lands on a weekday that is not also a bank holiday on England and Wales, and a bank holiday on England and Wales that is not on Scotland's list puts one back only when it lands on a weekday. In 2026, Scotland's additions on a weekday are 2nd January on Friday, January 2, World Cup Bank Holiday on Monday, June 15, Summer Bank Holiday on Monday, August 3, and St Andrew's Day on Monday, November 30. Easter Monday on Monday, April 6 and Summer Bank Holiday on Monday, August 31 are on England and Wales and not on Scotland's list, so the count treats them as working days.

The net effect is two fewer working days than England and Wales: 251 against 253.

Where the fixed-date holidays land in 2026

A holiday tied to a calendar date moves one weekday later each year, so the week it breaks changes every year while its date stays put. Against 2025, each of these has moved one weekday on:

• New Year's Day is a Thursday in 2026, after a Wednesday in 2025, so on this page's count it is one of four days off in a row, Thursday, January 1 to Sunday, January 4.
• 2nd January is a Friday in 2026, after a Thursday in 2025, so on this page's count it is one of four days off in a row, Thursday, January 1 to Sunday, January 4.
• St Andrew's Day is a Monday in 2026, after a Sunday in 2025, so on this page's count it turns the weekend before it into three days off.
• Christmas Day is a Friday in 2026, after a Thursday in 2025, so on this page's count it is one of four days off in a row, Friday, December 25 to Monday, December 28.
• Boxing Day is a Saturday in 2026, after a Friday in 2025, a weekend day, so the date itself takes no working day on this page's count; the weekend rules above decide whether a weekday is given for it.

Long weekends and four-day breaks in Scotland, 2026

A weekday holiday next to a weekend turns two days off into three; two closures side by side, or one on each side of a weekend, make four or more. That is arithmetic on the dates, so the list moves every year even when the holidays do not. On this page's count, Scotland has eight such breaks in 2026:

• Thursday, January 1 to Sunday, January 4: four days, for New Year's Day and 2nd January.
• Friday, April 3 to Sunday, April 5: three days, for Good Friday.
• Saturday, May 2 to Monday, May 4: three days, for Early May Bank Holiday.
• Saturday, May 23 to Monday, May 25: three days, for Spring Bank Holiday.
• Saturday, June 13 to Monday, June 15: three days, for World Cup Bank Holiday.
• Saturday, August 1 to Monday, August 3: three days, for Summer Bank Holiday.
• Saturday, November 28 to Monday, November 30: three days, for St Andrew's Day.
• Friday, December 25 to Monday, December 28: four days, for Christmas Day and Boxing Day (observed).

No bridge days in 2026

No working day on this page's count sits alone between two days off in 2026, and no holiday on it falls on a Wednesday, so the year has no stranded day and no midweek break.

Scotland month by month, 2026

A month's working days are its weekdays less the holidays on them, so a month with no weekday holiday is set entirely by how its weekdays fall, and every holiday that lands midweek takes one day off the month it sits in.

The third column counts the same months on England and Wales, so the gap between the two columns is exactly what Scotland's own calendar changes.

Where Scotland counts longest without a break in 2026

The longest run of working days with no weekday holiday inside it depends on how far apart consecutive closures sit, so it moves whenever one fixed-date holiday changes weekday. In 2026 it runs from Tuesday, August 4 to Friday, November 27 in the second half of the year: 84 working days, 16 full working weeks and four days.

The first working day of 2026 on this count is Monday, January 5, after New Year's Day and 2nd January. The last is Thursday, December 31, which is the latest date a count of working days can end on inside 2026.

Which calendar the 2026 count uses

The count uses the bank holidays gov.uk publishes for Scotland. Section 1 of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 makes the days in Schedule 1 bank holidays and lets further days be appointed by proclamation. gov.uk publishes a separate list for England and Wales, and in 2026 the two lists differ on six weekdays.