The entitlement
| NHS service | Annual leave | Plus public holidays (England, Scotland, Wales) | Total, full time | In hours (37.5-hour week) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| On appointment | 27 days (Wales 28) | 8 | 35 days | 262.5 |
| After 5 years | 29 days | 8 | 37 days | 277.5 |
| After 10 years | 33 days | 8 | 41 days | 307.5 |
Three country differences that most leave calculators miss:
- Wales gives one extra day on appointment, so new starters get 28 days. The five- and ten-year figures are the same as elsewhere.
- Northern Ireland has 10 general public holidays rather than 8, so an HSC new starter's total is 37 days.
- Scotland moved to a 36-hour week in April 2026, so a full-time day is 7.2 hours. The day entitlement is the same, but it's worth 252 hours on appointment rather than 262.5.
The legal minimum for a five-day week is 28 days including bank holidays, so even a new NHS starter gets well over a week more.
Why leave is best counted in hours
If you don't work standard 7.5-hour days, the handbook says leave and public holidays should be worked out in hours, so that someone on 12-hour shifts doesn't end up with more or less leave than a colleague on standard days. A full-timer on appointment has 262.5 hours in England. On 12-hour shifts, that's about 21.9 shifts off: fewer "days", the same time.
Part-time leave
Part-timers get the full-time entitlement pro rata to their hours. On 22.5 hours a week (60% of full time) on appointment in England, that's 121.5 hours of annual leave. Public holidays are also pro rata, but the handbook says to round them up to the nearest half day: 60% of 8 days is 4.8, rounded up to 5 days (37.5 hours). Part-timers add their public holiday allowance to their annual leave and book the public holidays they'd normally work as leave.
Working on a public holiday
If you're rostered to work, or on call, on a general public holiday, you get equivalent time off in lieu at plain time as well as the pay for the shift, which includes the public holiday unsocial hours rate.
What counts as NHS service
Your continuous previous service with any NHS employer counts towards the five- and ten-year steps. If you leave and come back, your earlier NHS service still counts towards annual leave, however long the break (sick pay is different: there the break has to be 12 months or less). Employers can also choose to count relevant service outside the NHS, so if you've worked in social care, a hospice or abroad, ask HR before you start.
Holiday pay includes your usual extras
Pay while you're on leave isn't just basic pay. The handbook says it includes regularly paid supplements: recruitment and retention premia, payments for work outside normal hours (such as regular unsocial hours) and London weighting. It's based on what you'd have earned at work, using the last three months for regular hours, or the last 52 weeks if your hours are irregular.