Work Days Calculator
Calculate working days between two dates excluding weekends and UK bank holidays with full breakdown of total, weekend and holiday days
Select start and end dates to calculate working days
Calculate the number of working days between two dates, excluding weekends and UK bank holidays.
How the Work Days Calculator Counts Business Days
Pick a start date and an end date. The tool walks through every day in between, and counts as a working day anything that is not a Saturday, Sunday or UK bank holiday. It returns four figures: total calendar days, working days, weekend days and bank holiday days. Toggle bank holidays off if your client treats them as billable.
The 2026 UK bank holidays built in are 1 January, 3 April (Good Friday), 6 April (Easter Monday), 4 May (Early May), 25 May (Spring), 31 August (Summer), 25 December and 28 December (Boxing Day substitute, because 26 Dec is a Saturday). For a generic day-count without holidays stripped, the [Date Difference Calculator](/date-difference-calculator) is the simpler choice.
When You Need a Working Days Figure Rather Than Calendar Days
| Use Case | Why Work Days Matter |
|---|---|
| Project deadlines | Resource planning ignores weekends and holidays |
| Notice periods (some contracts) | A '20 working days' clause is materially longer than 20 calendar days |
| Statutory sick pay | SSP is paid for qualifying days only |
| Court filing windows | Most procedural deadlines count working days only |
| Probation periods (some employers) | A '90 working days' probation is roughly 18 weeks |
| Freelance billing | Quoting day-rate work for a fortnight needs to match your actual availability |
Regional Bank Holiday Differences
England and Wales share the eight bank holidays listed in the calculator. Scotland adds 2 January and uses St Andrew's Day (30 November) when an employer chooses to grant it. Northern Ireland adds St Patrick's Day (17 March) and Battle of the Boyne (12 July). The calculator currently uses the England and Wales list, which is the largest single market and the conservative choice if your contract is silent on the question.
Bridge days, also called bridging holidays, are not statutory in the UK; they are common in mainland Europe but rare here. The closest UK equivalent is the unofficial 'twixmas' shutdown between Christmas and New Year, which many offices treat as an informal holiday even though it is not legally one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the result include the start and end dates?
Yes. Both the start date and end date are included in the count. So 6 April 2026 to 10 April 2026 returns 5 calendar days, which after stripping the Easter Monday on 6 April leaves 4 working days. If you need an interval that excludes one of the bookend days, subtract 1 from the result.
What about half-days?
The tool counts in whole days only. For half-day adjustments, treat each half as 0.5 of the working-day total in your spreadsheet. For finer-grained billable time tracking, the [Work Hours Calculator](/work-hours-calculator) handles hours and minutes.
Can I add my own company-specific holidays?
Not directly in the calculator. The simplest workaround is to run the figure with bank holidays included, then manually subtract any extra closure days (your firm's summer shutdown, founder's day, religious observance days). For repeat use, build a quick spreadsheet with your specific calendar.
How is this different from working out a project end date?
This tool tells you how many working days fall between two dates you already know. To go the other way (start date plus N working days = ?), use the add/subtract tab in the [Date Difference Calculator](/date-difference-calculator) and adjust manually for weekends, or roll forward by hand using the bank holiday list.
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