Leave HackerGuidesPlan my year

How do I plan my annual leave for the year?

Getting the most days off · Checked against gov.uk and Acas on 26 October 2026. Updated .

Plan it all when your year opens

Sit down when your leave year opens (often January), work out exactly how many days you have, book the big breaks around Easter and Christmas first, then fill the gaps with long weekends next to bank holidays. Ask for everything early, in writing.

Seven steps

  1. Know your number. Your allowance, whether bank holidays are included, and any days carried over. Do bank holidays count?
  2. Know your dates. When your leave year starts and ends, and any shutdown days your employer sets. Leave years.
  3. Mark what's fixed. Weddings, school holidays, things already booked.
  4. Book the big two first. Easter and Christmas give the most days off for the least leave, and they're the weeks colleagues want too. Easter 2027, Christmas 2027.
  5. Add long weekends. One day next to each Monday bank holiday makes a four-day weekend.
  6. Keep a few days spare for the unexpected, and spread breaks out: one every couple of months.
  7. Ask for it all early, in writing, and put it in your calendar. How to ask.

Or do it in a minute

The Leave Hacker planner does steps 1 to 6 for you: tell it your allowance (25 days is the default), where you work and when your leave year starts, and it plans every break, then writes the message to your manager for each one. It's free in your browser. Plan my year.

Sources

Checked on 26 October 2026. This is general information about the legal minimum in the UK, not legal advice: your contract can give you more, and can set its own rules for notice and carrying over. For help with your own situation, call the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100 (England, Scotland and Wales) or the Labour Relations Agency on 03300 555 300 (Northern Ireland).

More questions

When should I plan my annual leave?

When your leave year opens: January for a calendar leave year, April or your start date for others. That's when you have the full allowance and the most choice of dates.

How many breaks should I plan?

It's up to you, but spread out works well: two longer breaks (around Easter and Christmas) and a long weekend every month or two.