Scottish bank holiday dates

Scottish bank holiday dates

2025

2025 date	Day of the week	Holiday
1 January 2025	Wednesday	New Year's Day
2 January 2025	Thursday	2nd January
18 April 2025	Friday	Good Friday
5 May 2025	Monday	Early May
26 May 2025	Monday	Spring
4 August 2025	Monday	Summer
1 December 2025 (substitute day)	Monday	St Andrew's Day
25 December 2025	Thursday	Christmas Day
26 December 2025	Friday	Boxing Day

Scottish bank holidays are the same across the whole of Scotland.

Public or local holidays, on the other hand, are determined by local councils and can differ between areas. The list of bank holidays below is not a comprehensive list of local holidays – check local council websites for local holidays.

If a bank holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, a substitute weekday becomes a bank holiday (usually the following Monday).

His Majesty the King can appoint special days as bank holidays in any year.

Bank holiday entitlement

Not everyone is entitled to paid leave on bank or public holidays. If in doubt, check the position with your employer.

Banks and businesses

Banks in Scotland do not always close on Scottish bank holidays. For business reasons, Scottish banks tend to close on the same day as those in England and Wales.

There is no law requiring banks or any other businesses to close on bank holidays.

St Andrew's Day bank holiday

St Andrew's Day was declared a bank holiday by the Scottish Parliament in 2006, although banks are not required to close if they do not wish to. If 30 November occurs on a weekend, the bank holiday is moved to the following Monday.

Employers are not required by law to give employees a holiday on the St Andrew's Day bank holiday.

For further information please see the St. Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007.

Past bank holidays

Bank holiday	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
New Year's Day (or in lieu of 1 Jan)	1 Jan	1 Jan	1 Jan	3 Jan*	3 Jan*	1 Jan
2 January (or in lieu of 2 Jan)	2 Jan	2 Jan	4 Jan*	4 Jan*	2 Jan	2 Jan
Good Friday	19 April	10 April	2 April	15 Apr	7 April	29 Mar
Early May Bank Holiday	6 May	8 May	3 May	2 May	1 May	6 May
Coronation Bank Holiday	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	8 May	N/A
Spring Bank Holiday	27 May	25 May	31 May	2 June	29 May	27 May
Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday	N/A	N/A	N/A	3 June	N/A	N/A
Summer Bank Holiday	5 Aug	3 Aug	2 Aug	1 Aug	7 Aug	5 Aug
State Funeral of Her Majesty The Queen	N/A	N/A	N/A	19 Sep	N/A	N/A
St Andrew's Day	2 Dec	30 Nov	30 Nov	30 Nov	30 Nov	2 Dec
Christmas Day (or in lieu of 25 Dec)	25 Dec	25 Dec	27 Dec	26 Dec	25 Dec	25 Dec
Boxing Day (or in lieu of 26 Dec)	26 Dec	28 Dec*	28 Dec	27 Dec	26 Dec	26 Dec

* = substitute day