Free Excel template
Staff holiday planner Excel template 2027
A free wall chart style holiday planner for UK teams. One row per person and one column per day for 2027, with the bank holidays for England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland already shaded. Work out each person's entitlement from the 5.6 weeks minimum, pro rata for part-time staff, then mark days off with a code. It prints on A3, or on A4 one month at a time. No signup, no macros.
Free .xlsx, 71 KB, 5 sheets, sample rows included. For up to 30 people.
In Google Sheets: File, Import, Upload, then Replace spreadsheet.
- Free, no signup
- UK bank holidays 2027
- No macros
- Excel, Sheets, LibreOffice
What is inside
A wall chart, bank holidays and entitlement in one workbook
Made for UK teams: statutory holiday, bank holidays by nation and part-time pro rata.
A wall chart for 2027
One row per person, one column per day. Type or pick H for a holiday, AM or PM for a half day, S for sick, T for training, U for unpaid, O for other.
Bank holidays by nation
Pick England and Wales (8), Scotland (9) or Northern Ireland (10). The dates are shaded for you, and you can add your own closure days.
Entitlement worked out
Contract days, bank holidays on top or included, days worked a week, and start and leave dates. You get the days to book, the days taken and the days left.
The 5.6 weeks check
Statutory holiday is 5.6 weeks, capped at 28 days. The sheet flags anyone whose pro rata entitlement, including bank holidays, falls below it.
Part-time and part-year staff
Entitlement is pro-rated for the days someone works and for the part of the year they are employed. Carried over days are added on top.
Prints on A3 or A4
The wall chart prints on A3 landscape, one quarter per page with names repeated. For A4, pick a month on Month view and print that one page.
How to use
Pick your region, add your staff, mark the days
Amber cells are for typing, grey cells are formulas.
Pick your region
On Setup choose England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, then enter your contract days and whether bank holidays are on top.
Add your staff
On Staff, enter each person with the days they work a week, and a start date, leave date or carried over days if you need them.
Mark days off
On Wall chart, type or pick a code in a day. Weekends and bank holidays are shaded and never counted.
Read the balances
Left and Taken days sit beside each name, with the full breakdown and the 5.6 weeks check on Staff.
Print it
Print the wall chart on A3, or pick a month on Month view for one A4 page.
Clear the grey sample rows first: select the cells and press Delete. Please do not delete whole rows, so the formulas stay in place.
Under the hood
UK dates, entitlement and printing
UK bank holidays 2027 by nation
England and Wales 8, Scotland 9 and Northern Ireland 10 weekday bank holidays, with every 2027 date.
England and Wales 8
- New Year's Day Fri 1 Jan
- Good Friday Fri 26 Mar
- Easter Monday Mon 29 Mar
- Early May Mon 3 May
- Spring Mon 31 May
- Summer Mon 30 Aug
- Christmas Day (substitute) Mon 27 Dec
- Boxing Day (substitute) Tue 28 Dec
Scotland 9
- New Year's Day Fri 1 Jan
- 2 January (substitute) Mon 4 Jan
- Good Friday Fri 26 Mar
- Early May Mon 3 May
- Spring Mon 31 May
- Summer Mon 2 Aug
- St Andrew's Day Tue 30 Nov
- Christmas Day (substitute) Mon 27 Dec
- Boxing Day (substitute) Tue 28 Dec
Northern Ireland 10
- New Year's Day Fri 1 Jan
- St Patrick's Day Wed 17 Mar
- Good Friday Fri 26 Mar
- Easter Monday Mon 29 Mar
- Early May Mon 3 May
- Spring Mon 31 May
- Battle of the Boyne Mon 12 Jul
- Summer Mon 30 Aug
- Christmas Day (substitute) Mon 27 Dec
- Boxing Day (substitute) Tue 28 Dec
Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on a weekend in 2027, so the days off are Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December. 2 January is a Saturday, so Scotland takes Monday 4 January. The dates match the UK bank holidays page, which also has a calendar download.
How the entitlement is worked out
Almost all UK workers get 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, capped at 28 days. For a 5 day week that is 28 days. A...
Almost all UK workers get 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, capped at 28 days. For a 5 day week that is 28 days. A part-time worker gets 5.6 times the days worked in a week, so 3 days a week gives 16.8 days. Your contract can give more, never less, and bank holidays can count towards the 5.6 weeks.
The Staff sheet takes your contract days, adds the bank holidays or not as you set, scales the total by the days worked a week and by the share of the year employed, and compares the result with the statutory minimum. Bank holidays are pro-rated with the same share, a simple approach, so check part-time cases against the contract.
To check one person, use the UK holiday entitlement calculator or the UK pro rata holiday calculator.
Printing on A3 and A4
The Wall chart is set up for A3 landscape: four pages, one quarter each, with the names repeated on every page. If...
The Wall chart is set up for A3 landscape: four pages, one quarter each, with the names repeated on every page. If you only have A4, open Month view, pick a month and print that one page, which fits A4 landscape.
In Google Sheets, the wall chart prints best when you choose a print range for one quarter at a time.
Honest limits
When a spreadsheet stops being enough
A wall chart is a good fit for a small team with office hours and one person keeping it up to date. These are the points where it starts to cost more than it saves.
01
Shift and part-time patterns
Staff on changing hours need holiday in hours, and a day column per person gets awkward quickly.
What LeaveCalc doesBalances in days or in hours, with the hours a request will use shown before it is sent.02
Requests by email
People ask in emails, chats and corridors, and someone has to turn every one into a mark on the chart.
What LeaveCalc doesStaff ask through a link, you approve in one click, and the chart updates itself.03
Several managers editing
Two copies of the chart drift apart, and the printed one on the wall is already out of date.
What LeaveCalc doesOne calendar for everyone, plus a calendar feed for Google Calendar, Outlook and Apple Calendar.04
Sickness and absence patterns
Sick days live on a separate sheet, so patterns are easy to miss.
What LeaveCalc doesSick days are their own leave type on the team calendar. The Bradford factor calculator can score a pattern.
LeaveCalc for Employers keeps requests, approvals, balances and the team calendar in one place. It is free for up to 3 people, and Pro includes a 14-day trial. No card needed.
FAQ
Questions, answered plainly
Almost all UK workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For a 5 day week that is 28 days, and statutory holiday is capped at 28 days. A part-time worker gets 5.6 times the days they work each week, so 3 days a week gives 16.8 days. Contracts can give more, never less. The UK holiday entitlement calculator checks one person's figure.
The 2027 bank holidays for England and Wales (8), Scotland (9) and Northern Ireland (10). Pick your region on Setup and the right days are shaded on the chart. You can also add your own closure days, such as the days between Christmas and New Year. The dates match the UK bank holidays page.
They can. Whether bank holidays are on top of the contract days or included in them is set by your contracts, not by law. The planner has a setting for each, and its 5.6 weeks check compares the total, including bank holidays, with the statutory minimum.
Multiply 5.6 by the days they work each week. For 3 days a week that is 16.8 days, and for 4 days it is 22.4. The Staff sheet does this for you, and also pro-rates for people who start or leave part way through the year. The UK pro rata holiday calculator checks starters and leavers.
Yes. Go to File, Import, Upload, choose the .xlsx and pick Replace spreadsheet. The planner uses plain formulas that Google Sheets and LibreOffice also support, and the drop-downs and colours come across.
The wall chart is set up for A3 landscape, one quarter per page, with the names repeated. For A4, open Month view, pick a month and print that page. It fits A4 landscape.
Yes. The bank holiday dates and the day columns are for 2027, so a new year needs a new file. For a planner that never needs rebuilding, see LeaveCalc for UK teams.
Related tools and pages
Outgrown the spreadsheet?
Free for up to 3 people, Pro includes a 14-day trial, no card. Add your team, set your policies, share the link.