NHS annual leave calculator
Your leave is written in days but counted in hours, and a rota is built in shifts. This turns one into the other, so you know how many shifts you can actually book off.
Your contract
A full leave year normally has 8 bank holidays. April 2026 to March 2027 has 9 dates in England and Wales. Enter 9 if your trust gives you the extra one.
One working day on your contract counts as 7.5 hours (37.5 hours ÷ 5). Rounded to the nearest half hour, as most trusts do, so yours may differ by a few minutes.
The number that matters is hours
On Agenda for Change you get 27 days a year to start with, 29 once you have five years in the NHS, and 33 after ten. On top of that come 8 bank holidays. Those are full-time days, and a full-time week is 37.5 hours, so a day is 7.5 hours. Most trusts therefore hold your leave as a bank of hours, and take hours off it when you book a shift.
| NHS service | Annual leave | Bank holidays | Together, full-time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5 years | 27 days, 202.5 hours | 8 days, 60 hours | 262.5 hours |
| 5 to 10 years | 29 days, 217.5 hours | 8 days, 60 hours | 277.5 hours |
| 10 years or more | 33 days, 247.5 hours | 8 days, 60 hours | 307.5 hours |
If you work fewer hours, it is pro rata. Divide your weekly hours by 5 to get your working day, then multiply by the days. Someone on 22.5 hours with six years in gets 130.5 hours of leave and 36 of bank holiday time, 166.5 hours in all.
Why 12-hour shifts confuse everyone
A nurse on three 11.5-hour shifts works 34.5 hours a week, so her “day” is 6.9 hours. With under five years she has 186.5 hours of leave plus 55 of bank holidays. That is 241.5 hours, or 21 shifts of 11.5 hours. It looks small beside the 35 days a day-worker gets, but each shift is longer; it is the same slice of the year. NHS Employers guidance makes the same point for 12-hour shifts: a long shift uses up that many hours of entitlement.
Odd hours matter too. If your total is a few hours short of a whole number of shifts, the leftover is usually best spent shortening a shift at either end of a break.
This leave year has nine bank holiday dates
The headline entitlement is 8, but the leave year runs from 1 April, and the calendar does not always give you eight. April 2026 to March 2027 in England and Wales contains Easter Monday (6 April), the May and spring bank holidays, the August bank holiday, Christmas Day, the substitute Boxing Day (28 December), New Year’s Day, and then Good Friday and Easter Monday again (26 and 29 March 2027), because Easter falls so early in 2027. That is nine. By our count the following year, April 2027 to March 2028, has only six.
Many trusts say in their leave policy that bank holiday hours should follow the real number in the year, so some will give you the extra one, and some will not. The calculator starts at 8 and you can change it. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different bank holiday dates, so use the count your employer gives you.
Starting, leaving, or hitting five years part-way through
Leave builds up over the leave year, so a full-time starter joining on 1 October works six months and five bank holidays (Christmas, the Boxing Day substitute, New Year’s Day, Good Friday and Easter Monday): 101.5 hours of leave plus 37.5 of bank holiday time, 139 hours.
If you pass five years in the NHS partway through, you do not wait for next April. Tell the calculator how many months into your period the milestone falls. A full-timer who reaches five years five months into the year gets 211.5 hours rather than 202.5, which is the 27-day rate for five months and the 29-day rate for seven. Check that your service dates include previous NHS employers, because that counts.
What you are paid while you are off
Leave is not paid at basic pay alone. If you normally earn unsocial hours payments for nights or weekends, the rules say your holiday pay should reflect what you would have received had you been at work, and since 2021 regular overtime and extra hours are averaged in as well. How the average is built, over what stretch of weeks, is in your trust’s policy, so look at the payslip for the month you took leave and see whether it matches.
Working a bank holiday does not lose you the time. You take the equivalent hours off another day, and when you do take that time off it does not carry a fresh enhancement. Falling ill on a bank holiday is different. Several trusts say in their policy that you do not get the day back, so check yours.
Common questions
How many days annual leave do NHS staff get?
On Agenda for Change it is 27 days on appointment, 29 days after five years in the NHS and 33 days after ten, plus 8 bank holidays. Part-timers get the same pro rata.
How do I work out my NHS annual leave in hours?
Divide your weekly hours by 5 to get your working day, then multiply by 27, 29 or 33. A full-timer on 37.5 hours has a 7.5-hour day, so 27 days is 202.5 hours.
How many shifts of annual leave do I get on 12-hour shifts?
Take your total hours, leave plus bank holidays, and divide by the paid length of your shift. Three 11.5-hour shifts a week with under five years is 21 shifts, leave and bank holidays together.
Does NHS service from a previous trust count towards 5 or 10 years?
Yes. Reckonable NHS service counts, including most earlier NHS employers, although there are rules about breaks. HR can confirm your service date.
Do bank staff get NHS annual leave?
Bank workers are not on the same footing as substantive staff. They are paid holiday under the statutory rules, often as an uplift on each shift, so check your bank contract.
What if I work on a bank holiday?
You take the equivalent hours off at another time in the leave year. Time off in lieu does not carry unsocial hours pay when you take it.
Does Scotland use the same leave rules?
The days are the same, but full-time hours in NHS Scotland are being reduced, so use your own contracted weekly hours and your employer’s bank holiday count.