Scotland Bank Holidays 2028

Scotland's bank holidays under the 1971 Act, in 2028

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 2028 St Andrew's Day is a Thursday and stays on 30 November. 2 January is a Sunday, and gov.uk lists Tuesday, January 4 in its place, where the Schedule's own words give 3 January. Section 1(2) is the Act's power to appoint another day in place of a Schedule day by proclamation.

Easter Monday (Monday, April 17) and the last Monday in August (Monday, August 28) 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 7.

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 2028 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. 2028 is a leap year that opens on a Saturday, so its two days beyond 52 whole weeks are a Saturday and a Sunday. It ends up with 260 weekdays, fewer than an ordinary year that starts midweek.

Nine bank holidays in this page's count fall on weekdays, so Scotland has 251 working days in 2028. That is one fewer than 2027 (252). The holidays cost the same number of weekdays both years; the difference is the calendar itself, which supplies one fewer weekday.

Substitute bank holidays in 2028

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 2028:

• New Year's Day falls on Saturday, January 1, and gov.uk lists Monday, January 3 in its place.
• 2nd January falls on Sunday, January 2, and gov.uk lists Tuesday, January 4 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 2028

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 2028, Scotland's additions on a weekday are 2nd January (observed) on Tuesday, January 4, Summer Bank Holiday on Monday, August 7, and St Andrew's Day on Thursday, November 30. Easter Monday on Monday, April 17 and Summer Bank Holiday on Monday, August 28 are on England and Wales and not on Scotland's list, so the count treats them as working days.

The net effect is one fewer working day than England and Wales: 251 against 252.

Where the fixed-date holidays land in 2028

A holiday tied to a calendar date moves one weekday later each year, and two once 29 February has passed, so the week it breaks changes every year while its date stays put. 2028 is a leap year, so every date from March onward jumps two weekdays against 2027:

• New Year's Day is a Saturday in 2028, after a Friday in 2027, 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.
• 2nd January is a Sunday in 2028, after a Saturday in 2027, 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.
• St Andrew's Day is a Thursday in 2028, after a Tuesday in 2027, which leaves Friday, December 1 as a single working day before the weekend on this page's count.
• Christmas Day is a Monday in 2028, after a Saturday in 2027, so on this page's count it is one of four days off in a row, Saturday, December 23 to Tuesday, December 26.
• Boxing Day is a Tuesday in 2028, after a Sunday in 2027, so on this page's count it is one of four days off in a row, Saturday, December 23 to Tuesday, December 26.

Long weekends and four-day breaks in Scotland, 2028

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 six such breaks in 2028:

• Saturday, January 1 to Tuesday, January 4: four days, for New Year's Day (observed) and 2nd January (observed).
• Friday, April 14 to Sunday, April 16: three days, for Good Friday.
• Saturday, April 29 to Monday, May 1: three days, for Early May Bank Holiday.
• Saturday, May 27 to Monday, May 29: three days, for Spring Bank Holiday.
• Saturday, August 5 to Monday, August 7: three days, for Summer Bank Holiday.
• Saturday, December 23 to Tuesday, December 26: four days, for Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Stranded working days in 2028

A holiday on a Tuesday or a Thursday leaves one working day stranded between it and the weekend. In 2028 Scotland has one: Friday, December 1, next to St Andrew's Day. It is a full working day on this page's count even though a day off sits on either side, so a deadline that lands on it is not pushed anywhere.

Scotland month by month, 2028

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 2028

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 2028 it runs from Tuesday, August 8 to Wednesday, November 29 in the second half of the year: 82 working days, 16 full working weeks and two days.

The first working day of 2028 on this count is Wednesday, January 5, after New Year's Day (observed) and 2nd January (observed). The last is Friday, December 29, which is the latest date a count of working days can end on inside 2028.

Which calendar the 2028 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 2028 the two lists differ on five weekdays.