Bank holiday dates

The expected dates of bank and public holidays in England, Wales and Scotland are listed below.

When the usual date of a bank or public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, a 'substitute day' is given, normally the following Monday. For example in 2009, Boxing Day was on Saturday, 26 December, so there was a substitute bank holiday on Monday, 28 December.

England and Wales

There are currently eight permanent bank holidays in England and Wales and an additional one in 2012:

Scotland

There are nine statutory bank holidays across the whole of Scotland. There are also other public or local holidays which can be determined by local authorities, based on local tradition. Since 2007, St Andrew's Day has been an alternative, voluntary public holiday, which can replace an existing local holiday.

Businesses and schools are not necessarily closed on Scottish bank holidays, and the Scottish banks follow the English and Welsh bank holidays for business reasons.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, there are ten permanent bank holidays - the same eight as in England and Wales, plus St Patrick's Day and the Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. For more information see the nidirect website.

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Special bank holidays

There are laws that allow the dates of bank holidays to be changed, or other holidays to be declared, for example to celebrate special occasions.

It has been announced that there will be a special bank holiday in 2012 to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The 2012 late May bank holiday will be moved to Monday 4 June 2012 and an additional Jubilee bank holiday will be on Tuesday 5 June 2012. 

Time off for employees

You don't have an automatic right to paid leave on bank and public holidays, though many people receive the day off work. Any right to time off or extra pay for working on a bank holiday depends on the terms of your contract of employment.

For more information about your right to paid leave, see 'Holiday entitlements'.

British Summer Time

British Summer Time (BST) starts on the last Sunday in March and ends on the last Sunday in October, at 1.00 am Greenwich Mean Time (GMT):

• in spring the clocks go forward, losing an hour - at 1.00 am GMT the UK moves to 2.00 am BST
• in autumn the clocks go back, giving an extra hour - at 2.00 am BST the UK moves to 1.00 am GMT

Summer time periods begin and end on the following dates: