Working Days in the UK 2025: Monthly Totals by Nation
By Kate Vodopian Quick answer: In 2025, England and Wales each had 253 working days, Scotland had 252 working days, and Northern Ireland had 251 working days, based on a standard Monday-to-Friday working week and official bank holidays.
Last reviewed: 1 June 2026.
This is the 2025 version of our UK working days guide. If you are planning ahead, see the newer guide to working days in the UK in 2026.
Working days matter for payroll, staffing, annual leave planning, project deadlines and monthly reporting. In the UK, the number of working days can vary between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland because bank holidays are not exactly the same in every nation.
If you run a small business, knowing how many working days are in each month helps you plan staffing, approve leave fairly and avoid last-minute scheduling problems.
How many working days were there in the UK in 2025?
A working day usually means Monday to Friday, excluding weekends and bank holidays. The exact monthly total depends on where your employees are based and which regional bank holidays apply.
UK Working Days in 2025 — Quick Summary
| Nation | Working days in 2025 | Main reason for difference |
|---|---|---|
| England | 253 | 8 bank holidays |
| Wales | 253 | Same bank holiday pattern as England |
| Scotland | 252 | Extra 2 January holiday, St Andrew’s Day substitute day, and different summer bank holiday |
| Northern Ireland | 251 | Extra regional holidays including St Patrick’s Day and Battle of the Boyne / Orangemen’s Day |
Planning working days for 2026?
This page is useful for checking historical 2025 working-day totals. For current planning, use our newer guide to working days in the UK in 2026.
TimeOff.Management helps small businesses track bank holidays and public holidays, manage annual leave, sick leave and staff schedules, and see who is off in one shared calendar.
Start a 30-day free trial — no card needed.
Working Days by Month in the UK 2025
| Month | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22 | 22 | 21 | 22 |
| February | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| March | 21 | 21 | 21 | 20 |
| April | 20 | 20 | 21 | 20 |
| May | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| June | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| July | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 |
| August | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| September | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
| October | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 |
| November | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| December | 21 | 21 | 20 | 21 |
| Total | 253 | 253 | 252 | 251 |
Working Days in England in 2025
England had 253 working days in 2025, based on a standard Monday-to-Friday working week and the official England and Wales bank holidays.
| Month | Working days |
|---|---|
| January | 22 |
| February | 20 |
| March | 21 |
| April | 20 |
| May | 20 |
| June | 21 |
| July | 23 |
| August | 20 |
| September | 22 |
| October | 23 |
| November | 20 |
| December | 21 |
| Total | 253 |
England’s 2025 bank holidays were New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Early May bank holiday, Spring bank holiday, Summer bank holiday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
If your business has employees in more than one UK nation, a simple holiday tracker can help you apply the right bank holidays by location and avoid mistakes in annual leave calculations.
Working Days in Wales in 2025
Wales followed the same main bank holiday pattern as England in 2025, so the monthly working-day totals were the same.
| Month | Working days |
|---|---|
| January | 22 |
| February | 20 |
| March | 21 |
| April | 20 |
| May | 20 |
| June | 21 |
| July | 23 |
| August | 20 |
| September | 22 |
| October | 23 |
| November | 20 |
| December | 21 |
| Total | 253 |
Working Days in Scotland in 2025
Scotland had 252 working days in 2025. The total differed from England and Wales because Scotland had different bank holidays, including 2 January, the Scottish summer bank holiday on 4 August, and St Andrew’s Day substitute day on 1 December.
| Month | Working days |
|---|---|
| January | 21 |
| February | 20 |
| March | 21 |
| April | 21 |
| May | 20 |
| June | 21 |
| July | 23 |
| August | 20 |
| September | 22 |
| October | 23 |
| November | 20 |
| December | 20 |
| Total | 252 |
Scotland’s 2025 bank holidays were New Year’s Day, 2 January, Good Friday, Early May bank holiday, Spring bank holiday, Summer bank holiday on 4 August, St Andrew’s Day substitute day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Working Days in Northern Ireland in 2025
Northern Ireland had 251 working days in 2025. It had extra regional bank holidays, including St Patrick’s Day and Battle of the Boyne / Orangemen’s Day substitute day.
| Month | Working days |
|---|---|
| January | 22 |
| February | 20 |
| March | 20 |
| April | 20 |
| May | 20 |
| June | 21 |
| July | 22 |
| August | 20 |
| September | 22 |
| October | 23 |
| November | 20 |
| December | 21 |
| Total | 251 |
Northern Ireland’s 2025 bank holidays were New Year’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Early May bank holiday, Spring bank holiday, Battle of the Boyne / Orangemen’s Day substitute day, Summer bank holiday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Why working days matter for small businesses
Working-day totals affect more than calendars.
They can change how you plan:
- payroll and monthly salaries
- invoicing and billing cycles
- employee availability
- project deadlines
- holiday approvals
- part-time schedules
- customer support cover
For a small business, even one short month can affect staffing and workload. A clear leave management system helps managers see who is off, approve requests fairly and avoid overbooking leave during busy periods.
How to calculate working days manually
If you want to calculate working days yourself, the method is simple:
- Count the total number of days in the month
- Remove Saturdays and Sundays
- Remove the bank holidays that apply in your region
- Adjust for any company-specific closure days
For example, August 2025 in England had 31 days, 10 weekend days and 1 bank holiday, leaving 20 working days.
How to Calculate Working Days Using Excel
You can calculate working days with the NETWORKDAYS function in Excel or Google Sheets.
=NETWORKDAYS(start_date, end_date, holidays)- start_date: The start of the date range
- end_date: The end of the date range
- holidays: Optional list or range of dates to exclude from the working-day count, such as bank holidays
Example 1 — Basic usage
=NETWORKDAYS("2025-08-01", "2025-08-31")This counts all working days in August 2025, excluding weekends. Without adding bank holidays, this returns 21 working days.
Example 2 — With bank holidays
In England and Wales, August 2025 had one bank holiday:
- Monday, August 25 — Summer bank holiday
You can exclude it directly in the formula:
=NETWORKDAYS("2025-08-01", "2025-08-31", {"2025-08-25"})This returns 20 working days for August 2025 in England and Wales.
Example 3 — With holidays listed in cells
If your England and Wales 2025 bank holidays are listed in cells C2:C9:
| Cell | Date |
|---|---|
| C2 | 2025-01-01 |
| C3 | 2025-04-18 |
| C4 | 2025-04-21 |
| C5 | 2025-05-05 |
| C6 | 2025-05-26 |
| C7 | 2025-08-25 |
| C8 | 2025-12-25 |
| C9 | 2025-12-26 |
Use:
=NETWORKDAYS("2025-08-01", "2025-08-31", C2:C9)This calculates working days in August 2025. Excel will only subtract the bank holidays that fall inside the selected date range, so this returns 20 working days for August 2025 in England and Wales.
Quick tips:
- Both
start_dateandend_dateare included in the calculation. NETWORKDAYSassumes Saturday and Sunday are weekend days.- For custom weekends, use
NETWORKDAYS.INTL, where you can define which days are treated as non-working days. - If your business operates on an alternative weekend pattern, such as Sunday and Monday, use
NETWORKDAYS.INTLinstead ofNETWORKDAYS. - If your employees are based in different UK nations, use the correct bank holiday list for England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
If your employees are based in different parts of the UK, make sure you use the correct bank holiday list for each nation. TimeOff.Management can help you track bank holidays by employee location automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many working days were there in the UK in 2025?
It depended on the UK nation. In 2025, England and Wales each had 253 working days, Scotland had 252 working days, and Northern Ireland had 251 working days.
How many working days were there in England in 2025?
England had 253 working days in 2025, based on a standard Monday-to-Friday working week and official bank holidays.
How many working days were there in Wales in 2025?
Wales had 253 working days in 2025, the same as England.
How many working days were there in Scotland in 2025?
Scotland had 252 working days in 2025.
How many working days were there in Northern Ireland in 2025?
Northern Ireland had 251 working days in 2025.
Why were Scotland and Northern Ireland different?
Scotland and Northern Ireland have different bank holidays from England and Wales. Scotland had 2 January and St Andrew’s Day substitute day, while Northern Ireland had St Patrick’s Day and Battle of the Boyne / Orangemen’s Day substitute day.
What is classed as a working day in the UK?
A working day is usually Monday to Friday, excluding weekends and bank holidays. Some sectors such as retail, hospitality, healthcare and logistics may use a different working pattern.
How many working days are there in a month on average?
Most UK months have between 20 and 23 working days, depending on weekends and bank holidays.
Where can I find the 2026 working-day totals?
You can see the newer guide here: working days in the UK in 2026.
Struggling to Track Working Days, Bank Holidays and Annual Leave?
TimeOff.Management helps small businesses manage UK bank holidays, annual leave, sick leave, part-time schedules and staff availability in one simple system.
You can set different public holidays by location, track leave requests, and see who is off before approving more time away.
Start a 30-day free trial or see how TimeOff.Management works.
Further Reading
| Resource | Why it is useful |
|---|---|
| GOV.UK — UK bank holidays | Official bank holiday dates for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. |
| Working days in the UK in 2026 | Newer working-day totals for current planning. |
| UK Bank Holidays 2026: Dates by Nation and Employer Guide | Employer guidance on UK bank holidays, public holiday policies and staff planning. |
More in Time off basics
Recent articles
Hand-picked reads from the same category.