With the first bank holiday of 2025 been and gone, many are looking ahead to see when the next is, and unfortunately, it’s quite the wait. The dates for bank holidays shift each year, influenced by weekends or because annual holidays, such as Easter, move to new dates.
Because of this shift, the UK is having to wait three extra weeks for the next bank holiday this year, compared to how long we waited in 2024. This is due to Easter falling slightly later this year.
In 2024, the first bank holiday after January 1 fell on Friday, March 29. As Good Friday fell on the final Friday of March, with Easter two days later – Sunday, March 31. However in 2025, Good Friday is on Friday April 18, and East Monday is on Monday, April 21.
The Easter bank holidays often move around each year because when Easter falls depends on the lunar season, as Easter takes place on the first Sunday after the full Moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox.
Fast forward to May and we have two bank holidays which will occur on Monday, May 5 and Monday, May 26.
The summer bank holiday, which falls towards the end of the school summer holidays, will be on Monday, August 25.
And finally, to conclude the year, 2025’s Christmas bank holidays will be on Thursday, December 25 and Friday, December 26.
If you’re looking to maximise your time off this year, we published a helpful guide on how you can get almost two months off work in 2025.
Below is the full list of bank holidays this year.
Bank holidays in 2025 in England and Wales:
- Wednesday, January 1 – New Year’s Day
- Friday, April 18 – Good Friday
- Monday, April 21 – Easter Monday
- Monday, May 5 – Early May bank holiday
- Monday, May 26 – Spring bank holiday
- Monday, August 25 – Summer bank holiday
- Thursday, December 25 – Christmas Day
- Friday, December 26 – Boxing Day