The next bank holiday substitute day is Monday 28 December 2026, which replaces Boxing Day (Saturday 26 December) in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In 2027 there are three more: Monday 4 January in Scotland, and Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December everywhere.
How does a bank holiday substitute day work?
GOV.UK sums up the rule in one sentence: “If a bank holiday is on a weekend, a ‘substitute’ weekday becomes a bank holiday, normally the following Monday.” The substitute keeps the name of the holiday it replaces. GOV.UK lists Monday 28 December 2026 as “Boxing Day”, with the note “Substitute day”.
Only bank holidays tied to a fixed calendar date can need one: New Year’s Day, 2 January, St Patrick’s Day, the Battle of the Boyne, St Andrew’s Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Good Friday, Easter Monday and the Monday holidays in May and August are defined by weekday, so they never fall at a weekend.
The Monday is not always free. When two bank holidays sit next to each other and both fall at a weekend, the second substitute goes to Tuesday. That is why Christmas 2027 gives Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December, and why Scotland’s 2 January holiday in 2028 is on Tuesday 4 January.
What the law says in each part of the UK
The Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 does not contain one general substitute rule. Schedule 1 handles weekends date by date, and mostly only for Sundays:
- England and Wales (paragraph 1): “26th December, if it be not a Sunday” and “27th December in a year in which 25th or 26th December is a Sunday”.
- Scotland (paragraph 2): New Year’s Day and 2 January each move to 3 January “if it be a Sunday”; Christmas Day moves to 26 December “if it be a Sunday”; 30 November moves to “the first Monday following” if it is a Saturday or Sunday.
- Northern Ireland (paragraph 3): “17th March, if it be not a Sunday or, if it be a Sunday, 18th March”, plus the same two December rules as England and Wales.
St Andrew’s Day is the only day whose Saturday case is written into the Act. It was added by the St Andrew’s Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007.
How GOV.UK fills the gaps: royal proclamations
The other weekend cases are settled by royal proclamation: the King appoints the replacement weekdays the Act does not cover, and GOV.UK publishes the result. Two proclamations made in July 2026 show how it works:
- The England, Wales and Northern Ireland proclamation appoints Tuesday 28 December 2027, the second Christmas substitute day. Monday 27 December 2027 needs no proclamation, because the Act already makes 27 December a bank holiday when 26 December is a Sunday.
- The Scotland proclamation appoints Monday 28 December 2026 and Monday 4 January 2027 in place of Saturday 26 December 2026 and Saturday 2 January 2027.
The proclamation for 2026 did the same for England, Wales and Northern Ireland: Monday 28 December 2026 “in place of Saturday the twenty-sixth day of December”, and Monday 13 July 2026 for the Battle of the Boyne, because 12 July 2026 is a Sunday.
Every substitute day from 2019 to 2028
The table lists every entry marked “Substitute day” in the GOV.UK data for the confirmed years 2019 to 2028.
| Substitute day | Bank holiday | Usual date fell on | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 18 Mar 2019 | St Patrick’s Day | Sunday 17 Mar | Northern Ireland |
| Mon 2 Dec 2019 | St Andrew’s Day | Saturday 30 Nov | Scotland |
| Mon 13 Jul 2020 | Battle of the Boyne | Sunday 12 Jul | Northern Ireland |
| Mon 28 Dec 2020 | Boxing Day | Saturday 26 Dec | All UK regions |
| Mon 4 Jan 2021 | 2nd January | Saturday 2 Jan | Scotland |
| Mon 27 Dec 2021 | Christmas Day | Saturday 25 Dec | All UK regions |
| Tue 28 Dec 2021 | Boxing Day | Sunday 26 Dec | All UK regions |
| Mon 3 Jan 2022 | New Year’s Day | Saturday 1 Jan | All UK regions |
| Tue 4 Jan 2022 | 2nd January | Sunday 2 Jan | Scotland |
| Tue 27 Dec 2022 | Christmas Day | Sunday 25 Dec | All UK regions |
| Mon 2 Jan 2023 | New Year’s Day | Sunday 1 Jan | All UK regions |
| Tue 3 Jan 2023 | 2nd January | Monday 2 Jan, taken by the New Year’s Day substitute | Scotland |
| Mon 18 Mar 2024 | St Patrick’s Day | Sunday 17 Mar | Northern Ireland |
| Mon 2 Dec 2024 | St Andrew’s Day | Saturday 30 Nov | Scotland |
| Mon 14 Jul 2025 | Battle of the Boyne | Saturday 12 Jul | Northern Ireland |
| Mon 1 Dec 2025 | St Andrew’s Day | Sunday 30 Nov | Scotland |
| Mon 13 Jul 2026 | Battle of the Boyne | Sunday 12 Jul | Northern Ireland |
| Mon 28 Dec 2026 | Boxing Day | Saturday 26 Dec | All UK regions |
| Mon 4 Jan 2027 | 2nd January | Saturday 2 Jan | Scotland |
| Mon 27 Dec 2027 | Christmas Day | Saturday 25 Dec | All UK regions |
| Tue 28 Dec 2027 | Boxing Day | Sunday 26 Dec | All UK regions |
| Mon 3 Jan 2028 | New Year’s Day | Saturday 1 Jan | All UK regions |
| Tue 4 Jan 2028 | 2nd January | Sunday 2 Jan | Scotland |
That is 23 substitute days in ten years. Most of them cluster around Christmas and New Year, where two fixed-date holidays sit side by side. The 2022 Christmas is a special case: Boxing Day fell on Monday 26 December, so the Christmas Day substitute went to Tuesday 27 December.
Boxing Day 2026 and Christmas 2027
Boxing Day 2026 falls on a Saturday. Christmas Day stays on Friday 25 December and the Boxing Day bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December 2026 in all three UK jurisdictions. The weekend in between is not a bank holiday.
Christmas 2027 is the double case. Christmas Day is a Saturday and Boxing Day a Sunday, so both bank holidays move: Christmas Day to Monday 27 December and Boxing Day to Tuesday 28 December 2027. Day-by-day planning for both years is on the Christmas bank holidays page.
Frequently asked questions
Do I get a substitute day off if the bank holiday falls on my day off?
A substitute day is a bank holiday like any other, so the same rules apply. GOV.UK states that bank or public holidays do not have to be given as paid leave and that an employer can include them in statutory annual leave. Whether you get the substitute day off, or extra pay for working it, depends on your contract.
Will there be substitute days in 2029?
GOV.UK has not published 2029 yet. 17 March 2029 is a Saturday, so Northern Ireland’s St Patrick’s Day is the first date that may need one. Treat any 2029 substitute day as provisional until it appears in the GOV.UK data.
Sources: GOV.UK bank holidays data and Privy Council proclamations. Checked 4 November 2026.