Boxing Day in 2026 falls on Saturday, December 26, so the substitute bank holiday moves to Monday, December 28. For people in England and Wales, that means the Boxing Day bank holiday will not land on December 26 next year.
England and Wales recognise eight bank holidays, while Scotland has nine and Northern Ireland has ten. The rule behind the shift is straightforward: when Boxing Day, Christmas Day or New Year land on a weekend, a weekday substitute is used instead.
Keir Starmer and 2022 extras
Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer hinted that if England were to win the World Cup, there could be a discussion regarding an extra bank holiday. That sits alongside 2022, when the UK had two extra bank holidays, one on 3 June 2022 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee and another on 19 September for her funeral.
The comparison matters because 2026 is not adding a bonus holiday at all; it is simply shifting the date of Boxing Day to keep the holiday count intact. A reader planning time off gets the same end-of-year break, but the calendar points to Monday, December 28 instead of Saturday, December 26.
2027 Christmas and Boxing Day
Next year in 2027, both Christmas Day and Boxing Day land on a weekend. That creates two substitute bank holidays, on Monday 27 December and Tuesday 28 December, for England and Wales.
So the practical answer is simple: if you are planning the end of 2026, treat Monday, December 28 as the Boxing Day bank holiday, not December 26. The same weekend-substitute rule then carries into 2027, when the holiday block shifts again across two weekdays.
