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If you’re planning a holiday in 2023, the best way to maximise your time off is to make use of the bank holidays. They give you an extra day off (or two) either side of the weekend. That means more time to enjoy your trip, and less days of leave taken away from work. If you’re smart about how you use your bank holiday time, you can string them together — for instance, at easter, you could get 16 days off and only take 8 days off work — more on that below!
If you’re planning a trip away with friends in 2023, planning around the long weekends is a great way to extend your trip. Make sure to get organised though — many group accommodation providers get booked out well in advance over the long weekends. Some websites like GroupAccommodation.com have a great late deals section if you do leave it late!
If you’re looking for the Bank Holidays in 2024, click here ›
WHEN IS THE NEXT BANK HOLIDAY?
The next bank holiday is Christmas Day (December 25th), unless you’re in Scotland where it’s St Andrew’s Day (November 30th).
HOW MANY BANK HOLIDAYS ARE THERE IN 2023?
The number of bank holidays depends on where you’re located in the UK. Wales and England have the same number of bank holidays, whilst Scotland and Ireland have some of their own.
- England: 8 bank holidays in 2023
- Wales: 8 bank holidays in 2023
- Scotland: 9 bank holidays in 2023
- Northern Ireland: 10 bank holidays in 2023
Bank Holidays in the UK
Here is a full breakdown of the days you can expect, depending on where you’re based:
2023 Bank Holidays for England and Wales
England and Wales get eight total bank holidays for 2023:
- Monday, 2 January – New Year’s Day (substitute day)
- Friday, 7 April – Good Friday
- Monday, 10 April – Easter Monday
- Monday, 1 May – Early May bank holiday
- Monday, 8 May – King Charles’ Coronation (tbc)
- Monday, 29 May – Spring bank holiday
- Monday, 28 August – Summer bank holiday
- Monday, 25 December – Christmas Day
- Tuesday, 26 December – Boxing Day
2023 Bank Holidays for Scotland
Scotland has nine in 2023. Here are the dates:
- Monday, 2 January – New Year’s Day (substitute day)
- Tuesday, 3 January – 2nd January (substitute day)
- Friday, 7 April – Good Friday
- Monday, 1 May – Early May bank holiday
- Monday, 8 May – King Charles’ Coronation (tbc)
- Monday, 29 May – Spring bank holiday
- Monday, 7 August – Summer bank holiday
- Thursday, 30 November – St Andrew’s Day
- Monday, 25 December – Christmas Day
- Tuesday, 26 December – Boxing Day
2023 Bank Holidays for Northern Ireland
For 2023, there are ten bank holidays in Northern Ireland, as follows:
- Monday, 2 January – New Year’s Day (substitute day)
- Friday, 17 March – St Patricks’ Day
- Friday, 7 April – Good Friday
- Monday, 10 April – Easter Monday
- Monday, 1 May – Early May bank holiday
- Monday, 8 May – King Charles’ Coronation (tbc)
- Wednesday, 12 July – Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen’s Day)
- Monday, 29 May – Spring bank holiday
- Monday, 28 August – Summer bank holiday
- Monday, 25 December – Christmas Day
- Tuesday, 26 December – Boxing Day
DO WE GET AN EXTRA BANK HOLIDAY FOR THE CORONATION OF PRINCE CHARLES?
Yes! On Monday 8th of May 2023.
The coronation of King Charles is due to take place on Saturday 6th of May 2023 at Westminster Abbey. It has now been confirmed that the UK will get a bank holiday for the coronation of King Charles. The bank holiday will fall on the Monday following the coronation, on Monday, which is the 8th of May.
HOW CAN I MAXIMISE MY HOLIDAY USING THE NATIONAL HOLIDAYS IN 2023?
Bank holidays are a great way to extend your time off work without using annual leave allowances. As all of the bank holidays fall next to weekends in 2023, any bank holiday you take will mean you can take a full week off and only use four days of your precious holiday.
But there is one example where you can get even more bang for your buck in 2023 and that’s over the Easter long weekend. If you take time off either side of the Easter weekend you could be off work for 16 days, and only need to use 8 days of annual leave. With Good Friday and Easter Monday sandwiched on either side of the weekend you can enjoy some extended time off — especially useful as it tends to coincide with school holidays.
Note that this doesn’t apply in Scotland where Easter Monday isn’t a bank holiday, although some councils do observe it.
DO BANK HOLIDAYS COUNT TOWARDS ANNUAL LEAVE?
Whether or not bank holidays count towards your annual leave allowance depends on your employer. If you’re unsure, take a look at your contract and read up on this guidance from the Citizens Advice website.
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