When Are The 2025 Bank Holidays?

The New Year is in full swing, and it’s back to work day for many Brits across the nation. Where does your mind naturally drift after an indulgently restful Christmas-Twixmas break? To more time off, of course. If you are plotting your 2025 adventures, it’s also time to mark your calendar with all of the UK bank holidays in 2025. There are eight bank holidays in 2025 – but note one has already passed us by. Here’s when you’ll get a free day off work this year – plus how to maximise your time off using these freebie days.

All The UK Bank Holidays In 2025

• Wednesday 1 January: New Year’s Day
• Friday 18 April: Good Friday
• Monday 21 April: Easter Monday
• Monday 5 May: May Day/Early May Bank Holiday
• Monday 26 May: Spring Bank Holiday
• Monday 25 August: Summer Bank Holiday
• Thursday 25 December: Christmas Day
• Friday 26 December: Boxing Day

See 2026 and 2027’s bank holidays at gov.uk

How To Maximise Your Annual Leave Using The 2025 Bank Holidays

Most workers in the UK are entitled to 28 days of paid annual leave – including those eight bank holidays in 2025. By mixing your annual leave with your bank holidays (and throwing a weekend in here and there) you can maximise your time off and extend your holidays all without draining your entitlement. Here are the annual leave hacks to know in 2025.

Easter Weekend

Two bank holidays make the long Easter weekend – the first two of 2025. But there’s a way to transform this four-day break into 16 days off despite only using eight days of your annual leave entitlement. If you take four days off from 14–17 April and another four from 22–25 April, you will not do a day of work from Saturday 12 April right up until Sunday 27 April.

May Day & Spring Bank Holidays

After your April jaunt, turn your sights to May when two more bank holidays will break up the working month. If you fancy jetting off on a lengthy adventure before temperatures reach their summer peaks, transform four days of annual leave into nine days off work by taking 6–9 May as annual leave. This combines with two weekends and May Day (5 May) to make a nine-day holiday.

If that’s not enough, take a look at the Spring Bank Holiday, too: booking four days off work from 27–30 May will make another nine days off thanks to the weekends and the bank holiday on 26 May.

August’s Summer Bank Holiday

Like above, combining the Summer Bank Holiday on 25 August with two weekends (23–24 August and 30–31 August) and four days of annual leave (26–29 August) will give you a nine-day break from work. That’s plenty of time for a hot European sojourn – or escape the heat in the Nordics or higher altitudes in the Alps.

Christmas Break

Did you work between Christmas and New Year? To avoid this in 2025, it’s time to lock in just under two weeks off work, using only six days of annual leave. Book off 22–24 December and 29–31 December to enjoy 13 consecutive days off work thanks to the weekends, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. It’s the perfect time to embark on a festive adventure – or why not use the time to laze at home with a gripping box set?