How Many Working Days in 2026?
The full breakdown for England & Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Working days in 2026
253
England & Wales (Mon–Fri minus bank holidays)
By region
England & Wales
253
working days
Scotland
251
working days
Northern Ireland
251
working days
The 2026 working calendar in detail
England & Wales has 253 working days in 2026, set against 8 bank holidays across the year. That is the same as 2025 (253).
Easter falls mid in 2026: Good Friday is Friday, 3 April 2026. Good Friday and Easter Monday are both bank holidays in England & Wales, so they remove two working days from the second quarter. A mid-window Easter spaces the spring holidays fairly evenly.
2026 has 7 bank holidayslanding on a Monday or Friday in England & Wales, each creating a three-day weekend: Good Friday (Friday 3 April), Easter Monday (Monday 6 April), Early May bank holiday (Monday 4 May), Spring bank holiday (Monday 25 May), Summer bank holiday (Monday 31 August), Christmas Day (Friday 25 December), Boxing Day (Monday 28 December). These are the dates to watch when a short deadline could quietly absorb a long weekend.
Because some holidays fall at a weekend, 2026 carries 1 substitute day: Boxing Day is observed on Monday 28 December. The substitute day, not the original date, is the one that counts as the bank holiday for pay and contract purposes.
Quarter by quarter
| Quarter | Months | Working days (E&W) |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | January–March | 63 |
| Q2 | April–June | 61 |
| Q3 | July–September | 65 |
| Q4 | October–December | 64 |
The lightest quarter for working days is Q2 (April–June, 61 working days), where the bank holidays cluster; the fullest is Q3 (July–September, 65 working days). Capacity planning, billing targets, and delivery forecasts are more realistic when they reflect this uneven spread rather than assuming a flat quarter.
Monthly breakdown
Bank holidays in 2026
Hover or tap a month above to jump to its working-day breakdown. The full bank holiday list lives on our 2026 bank holidays page.
England & Wales
- New Year’s Day01/01
- Good Friday03/04
- Easter Monday06/04
- Early May bank holiday04/05
- Spring bank holiday25/05
- Summer bank holiday31/08
- Christmas Day25/12
- Boxing Day28/12
Scotland
- New Year’s Day01/01
- 2nd January02/01
- Good Friday03/04
- Early May bank holiday04/05
- Spring bank holiday25/05
- World Cup bank holiday15/06
- Summer bank holiday03/08
- St Andrew’s Day30/11
- Christmas Day25/12
- Boxing Day28/12
Northern Ireland
- New Year’s Day01/01
- St Patrick’s Day17/03
- Good Friday03/04
- Easter Monday06/04
- Early May bank holiday04/05
- Spring bank holiday25/05
- Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen’s Day)13/07
- Summer bank holiday31/08
- Christmas Day25/12
- Boxing Day28/12
Quick calculator
Drop a date into the calculator below to count from 2026 forwards or backwards.
Use a negative number to count backwards.
Enter a date and a number of working days.