Scotland’s bank holiday calendar is set separately from the rest of the UK — by the Scottish Government rather than at Westminster — which is why it swaps Easter Monday for two dates most of the UK doesn’t get: 2 January and St Andrew’s Day.
The full 2026 list
| Date | Day | Holiday |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January | Thursday | New Year’s Day |
| 2 January | Friday | 2 January |
| 3 April | Friday | Good Friday |
| 4 May | Monday | Early May Bank Holiday |
| 25 May | Monday | Spring Bank Holiday |
| 3 August | Monday | Summer Bank Holiday |
| 30 November | Monday | St Andrew’s Day |
| 25 December | Friday | Christmas Day |
| 28 December | Monday | Boxing Day (substitute) |
That’s nine days — one more than England and Wales, though Scotland notably skips Easter Monday, which the rest of Great Britain (and Northern Ireland) does get.
Two things that make Scotland’s calendar distinct
New Year gets two days, not one. 1 January and 2 January are both bank holidays, a direct legacy of Hogmanay being the bigger celebration historically than Christmas in Scotland — New Year’s Day alone wasn’t enough time to recover from it.
Summer comes earlier. Scotland’s Summer Bank Holiday falls on the first Monday of August (3 August in 2026), roughly four weeks before England, Wales and Northern Ireland’s equivalent on 31 August. This lines up with Scottish school terms, which typically break for summer earlier and return earlier than schools south of the border.
Local holidays are a separate layer
It’s worth being precise here: the nine dates above are Scotland’s national bank holidays — the days banks, the Scottish Government and most large employers close. But Scottish local authorities each set their own additional local/public holidays (often tied to local trades’ fortnight or gala day traditions), which can add extra days off that vary from council to council. If your employer operates across multiple Scottish local authority areas, it’s worth checking whether local holidays affect your specific location.
Planning around it
- New Year (1–2 January): the natural anchor for Hogmanay events, particularly Edinburgh’s.
- Summer (3 August): a good marker for early Highland or island travel before the August school-holiday crowds peak.
- St Andrew’s Day (30 November): falls on a Monday in 2026, giving a rare late-autumn long weekend most of the rest of the UK doesn’t have.
For the England/Wales/Northern Ireland comparison, see 2026 bank holidays UK.