Estimated Leave Entitlement
Estimate only—confirm final entitlement with your NHS Board. NHS Scotland guidance.
Planning annual leave can be confusing when you work part time, start employment during the leave year or move into a higher service category. Your entitlement depends on reckonable NHS service, contracted weekly hours, applicable public holidays and the portion of the leave year you are employed.
The NHS Scotland Annual Leave Calculator helps Agenda for Change staff estimate annual leave and public-holiday entitlement for 2026/27. It converts the result into hours, making it easier to understand for employees working part-time, compressed or irregular shifts.
For a calculation that is not limited to NHS Scotland’s 2026/27 arrangements, use the broader NHS Holiday Entitlement Calculator.
What is the NHS Scotland Annual Leave Calculator?
The NHS Scotland Annual Leave Calculator is an online tool for estimating annual leave entitlement between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027. It uses the 36-hour full-time Agenda for Change working week effective in Scotland from 1 April 2026.
The calculator considers:
- reckonable NHS service;
- contracted weekly hours;
- calculation-period start and end dates;
- public holidays applicable during that period.
It then displays estimated annual leave hours, public-holiday hours and total leave hours. It also shows your weekly-hours fraction, the proportion of the leave year covered and a five-day-equivalent leave figure.
The calculation is suitable for full-time and part-time Agenda for Change employees. It is not an official entitlement decision, so the final amount should be confirmed with your NHS Board or HR team.
What Do You Need to Use the Calculator?
Before starting, check your contracted weekly hours and your recognised NHS service. Reckonable service may include eligible employment with previous NHS organisations, not only time spent in your current role or Board.
You will also need the start and end dates of the period being calculated. For a complete 2026/27 leave year, use 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.
Finally, check how many public holidays apply during the selected period. NHS Scotland advises staff to check their Board’s intranet because the applicable dates and arrangements can vary.
How to Use the NHS Scotland Annual Leave Calculator
First, select the service category that applies to you:
- 0 to 4 years;
- 5 to 9 years;
- 10 years or more.
Enter your contracted weekly hours. The maximum is 36 because this calculator is specifically designed for the NHS Scotland 2026/27 Agenda for Change working week.
Select the start and end dates of the period you want to calculate. Enter only the public holidays that apply during that period, then press Calculate.
The result box displays annual leave and public-holiday entitlement separately. Use Reset if you need to calculate another working pattern or service category.
How is NHS Scotland Annual Leave Calculated?
The full-year contractual annual leave entitlement depends on reckonable NHS service:
- 27 days for 0 to 4 years of service;
- 29 days for 5 to 9 years of service;
- 33 days for 10 years or more.
Public holidays are additional to these figures.
The calculator converts contractual leave into hours using:
Annual leave hours = entitlement days × contracted weekly hours ÷ 5
For a part-year calculation, the result is also multiplied by the portion of the leave year included between the selected dates.
Public-holiday entitlement is calculated separately:
Public-holiday hours = applicable public-holiday days × contracted weekly hours ÷ 5
Total estimated entitlement is:
Total leave hours = annual leave hours + public-holiday hours
The official NHS Scotland annual leave calculator also recommends creating separate calculation periods when weekly hours or service entitlement changes during the leave year.
Example: Full-Time NHS Scotland Annual Leave Calculation
Consider a full-time Agenda for Change employee with:
- three years of reckonable service;
- 36 contracted hours per week;
- employment throughout the complete 2026/27 leave year;
- eight applicable public holidays.
Three years of service provides 27 contractual leave days.
Annual Leave Hours:
Equivalent daily hours:
36 ÷ 5 = 7.2 hours
Annual leave:
27 × 7.2 = 194.4 hours
Public-Holiday Hours:
8 × 7.2 = 57.6 hours
Total Leave Entitlement:
194.4 + 57.6 = 252 hours
The estimated result is therefore 194.4 annual leave hours plus 57.6 public-holiday hours, giving a total of 252 hours.
Notice: The example assumes eight applicable public holidays. Employees should enter the number confirmed by their NHS Board rather than automatically using eight.
Example: Part-Time NHS Scotland Annual Leave Calculation
Consider an employee with:
- seven years of reckonable service;
- 18 contracted hours per week;
- employment throughout the complete leave year;
- eight applicable public holidays.
Seven years of service provides 29 contractual leave days.
Weekly-Hours Fraction:
18 ÷ 36 = 50% FTE
Annual Leave Hours:
Equivalent daily hours:
18 ÷ 5 = 3.6 hours
Annual leave:
29 × 3.6 = 104.4 hours
Public-Holiday Hours:
8 × 3.6 = 28.8 hours
Total Leave Entitlement:
104.4 + 28.8 = 133.2 hours
The employee’s estimated total entitlement is 133.2 hours.
The displayed day result is a five-day-equivalent pro-rata figure. It does not necessarily show the number of complete shifts the employee can take because those 18 weekly hours could be distributed across different numbers and lengths of shifts.
Employees who want to estimate the earnings associated with leave can use the NHS Annual Leave Pay Calculator. That calculator deals with estimated leave-related pay, while this page calculates leave entitlement.
Why Understanding Your Annual Leave Matters
Knowing your entitlement in hours helps prevent confusion when requesting leave, changing contracted hours or moving between NHS organisations. It also makes it easier to compare your own calculation with the balance shown in an electronic staff record or local rostering system.
The result can be especially useful when starting or leaving employment part-way through the year. Instead of using a full-year figure, the calculator reduces annual leave according to the selected calculation period.
Annual leave entitlement and salary are different calculations. If you also need to review your gross Scottish pay using your band, pay point and working hours, use the NHS Scotland Pay Calculator.
NHS Scotland Annual Leave in 2025 and 2026
The full-time Agenda for Change week in NHS Scotland was 37 hours during the 2025/26 leave year. It reduced to 36 hours from 1 April 2026.
Therefore, an NHS Scotland annual leave calculator for 2025 should use the working-week basis applicable to that earlier period. The calculator on this page only accepts dates between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027 and limits contracted hours to 36.
This prevents a historical 37-hour calculation from being mixed with the new 2026/27 working-week basis.
Common Mistakes While Calculating NHS Scotland Annual Leave
A common mistake is entering total NHS employment without checking whether all previous service is reckonable. HR should confirm the service used to determine whether the employee receives 27, 29 or 33 days.
Another mistake is entering every public holiday in the leave year during a part-year calculation. Only holidays applicable to the employee and selected period should be entered.
Employees may also interpret the displayed day result as the exact number of shifts available. Staff working unequal or compressed shifts should rely primarily on the entitlement in hours.
If weekly hours or service entitlement changes during the year, one calculation covering the whole year may be inaccurate. Calculate the different periods separately and ask the NHS Board how the results should be combined and rounded.
FAQs
Q:1- what is the NHS Scotland annual leave entitlement for 2026/27?
A:- Agenda for Change employees receive 27 days with 0–4 years of reckonable service, 29 days with 5–9 years and 33 days with 10 years or more. Applicable public holidays are additional.
Q:2- does the calculator use the 36-hour NHS Scotland working week?
A:- Yes. The calculator uses the 36-hour full-time Agenda for Change week effective from 1 April 2026.
Q:3- can part-time NHS Scotland staff use this calculator?
A:- Yes. Enter your contracted weekly hours and the calculator will estimate annual leave and public-holiday entitlement on a pro-rata basis.
Q:4- are NHS Scotland public holidays included automatically?
A:- No. Enter the number of public holidays that apply to your NHS Board and calculation period.
Q:5- can I calculate annual leave for part of the year?
A:- Yes. Select the relevant start and end dates between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027. Contractual annual leave will be adjusted using the proportion of the leave year covered.
Q:6- why does the calculator show annual leave in hours?
A:- Hours provide a more useful result for part-time staff and employees working unequal shifts. The number of shifts represented by those hours depends on the individual working pattern.
Q:7- what happens if my working hours or service category changes?
A:- Calculate each period separately using the hours and service category that applied at that time. Confirm with HR how the separate results should be combined and rounded.
Q:8- is this the official Once for Scotland annual leave calculator?
A:- No. It is an independent estimate based on NHS Scotland rules. Final entitlement should be checked with your NHS Board or the official NHS Scotland Workforce service.