Calculator Guide

How to use the UK calculator

Follow the controls in the order they appear, then check the method, public holidays and excluded dates. This page explains the tool; Use Cases show completed setups and Articles explain the source rules and annual data.

Open Calculator

A step-by-step guide to the standard, court-rule and sequential controls in the UK calculator.

Last reviewed: July 2026

Step 1

Choose the calculation you need

At-a-Glance

•Default Mode handles one deadline or the difference between two dates
•Court Rules applies a maintained court profile to one period
•Sequential Periods joins two or more documented stages

Begin with the job you need to do. The mode you choose changes the controls below it.

Default Mode

Add or subtract one period, or compare two known dates.

Court Rules

Count a notice or filing period using an England and Wales, Scottish or Northern Ireland court profile.

Sequential Periods

Build a timetable where the end of one verified stage starts the next.

The calculator does not choose the legal period

Use the rule, order, contract or notice to find the start date, period and instructions about whether the first and last dates count. Then enter those details in the calculator.

Try it as you read

The three modes appear at the top of the form.

Open the calculator

Default Mode

Run a standard working-day or calendar-day count

At-a-Glance

•Choose Deadline for a start date plus a period
•Choose Difference when both dates are already known
•Set the boundary checkboxes from the wording of your source

In Default Mode, set the calculation from the document you are working from. Keep a calendar-day period as calendar days, even if the final date may move.

UK calculator configured for a standard England and Wales working-day count — Default Mode with a ten-working-day England and Wales period. Select the image to open the full-size view.

Deadline or Difference

Use Deadline when you know one date and a period. Use Difference when you want the elapsed working and calendar days between two dates.

Forward or Backward

Forward counts after the start date. Backward works back from an event or target date.

Calendar days

Leave this off for working days. Turn it on for a period stated in calendar days, weeks or months.

Include start / deadline

Match the source wording. These controls decide whether the start and deadline dates count.

Optional Shutdown Period

Leave No Shutdown selected unless the contract or procedure uses the optional 24 December to 2 January exclusion.

A three-day boundary check

Start on Monday and add three calendar days. If the start is excluded and the deadline included, the result is Thursday: Tuesday is day 1, Wednesday day 2 and Thursday day 3. If you include the start instead, Monday becomes day 1 and the result moves to Wednesday. Use this small check when an answer is one day out.

See a complete setup

Follow a ten-working-day count from input to result.

Open the standard example

Related Resources

Notice to complete example

Ten England and Wales working days across Christmas

England and Wales working days in 2026

Monthly totals and the eight-bank-holiday check

Public holidays

Choose the UK jurisdiction

At-a-Glance

•England and Wales share the same bank holidays
•Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own dates
•Your choice changes which bank holidays are left out

Choose the jurisdiction whose bank holidays apply under the rule, contract or workplace policy. It may not be your current location.

England & Wales

Uses the bank holidays shared by England and Wales.

Scotland

Uses Scottish bank holidays, including dates that do not apply in England and Wales.

Northern Ireland

Uses Northern Ireland bank holidays, including St Patrick’s Day and the Battle of the Boyne holiday.

Same input: England & Wales

Start Tuesday 24 November 2026, exclude the start date and add 5 working days. The result is Tuesday 1 December.

Same input: Scotland

Change only the jurisdiction. St Andrew's Day on Monday 30 November is excluded, so the result moves to Wednesday 2 December.

Changing jurisdiction can change the answer

Keep the same dates and period, change only the jurisdiction, then compare the excluded-date list. That shows exactly why two UK counts can finish on different days.

Check which dates differ

See the bank holidays loaded for each jurisdiction.

Compare the public holidays

Related Resources

UK bank holidays by jurisdiction

Compare the public holidays and working-day totals for all three jurisdictions

Court deadlines

Set up Court Rules Mode

At-a-Glance

•Notice counts backward from an event; Filing counts forward from a trigger
•The court jurisdiction supplies the maintained counting profile
•The result states the method and boundary assumptions actually used

Select Court Rules only after identifying the court, workflow and period. The rule summary beside the form explains the settings for the selected court.

UK Court Rules Mode configured for an England and Wales notice — Court Rules Mode using the England and Wales notice profile. Select the image to open the full-size view.

Notice or Filing

Notice counts backward from the event. Filing counts forward from service or another trigger.

Court Jurisdiction

Choose England & Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Further controls appear only where that profile needs them.

Number of days

Enter the period from the rule. The profile decides whether a short-period threshold changes the method.

Boundary dates

Court Rules Mode hides the Include start dateand Include deadline date checkboxes. The selected profile sets both, and the banner states which treatment is in force before you calculate.

Only the notice profiles are clear days

Clear days means neither the triggering date nor the event date is counted. On this calculator that applies to the England and Wales notice profile and to both Northern Ireland notice profiles.

Every filing profile, and both Scottish profiles, exclude the start day but count the calculated day. The banner labels those as Boundary dates rather than clear days, because they are not the same rule. Read that line before relying on the result.

CPR 2.8: five days and six days use different methods

For an England and Wales notice period of five days or less, Saturdays, Sundays, bank holidays, Christmas Day and Good Friday are left out. A six-day period is counted in calendar days. The threshold changes the method; it does not change the number you enter.

See Court Rules Mode

Follow a three-clear-day notice count.

Open the CPR example

Related Resources

England and Wales notice example

Three clear days before a hearing

CPR court deadline calculator

CPR 2.8 thresholds, clear days and filing rollover

Topic

Select the Scottish court or office

Search for the SCTS court or office and check the supported source years.

Scotland

Select the Scottish court or office

At-a-Glance

•Choose Scotland under Court Jurisdiction
•Search for the court or office in SCTS Court Calendar
•Check the selected court or office and its closure dates in the result

Scotland adds an SCTS Court Calendar search box. Enter the court, sheriffdom or office name and select the matching option. The short line below the field lists the courts and offices covered by your choice.

UK Court Rules Mode with the Court of Session Judicial Office selected — A Scottish filing using the Court of Session (Judicial Office) closure dates. Select the image to open the full-size view.

The available years come from the stored SCTS source

The date fields show the supported year range. If the official source does not cover the year you need, do not treat a different year’s closures as a repeating pattern.

Choose an SCTS court or office

See Judicial Office closure dates applied to a filing.

Open the Scottish example

Related Resources

Scottish litigation example

A Court of Session filing across Easter closures

Scottish court holidays 2026

The stored SCTS source and court-by-court differences

Topic

Set the Northern Ireland court level

Choose High Court or County Court and apply the optional Long Vacation control only when required.

Northern Ireland

Set the Northern Ireland court level

At-a-Glance

•High Court and County Court use different short-period thresholds
•Exclude Long Vacation appears for both High Court Notice and Filing
•Leave the optional control off unless the relevant rule requires it

After selecting Northern Ireland, choose Court Level (NI). The High Court short-period threshold is seven days; the County Court threshold is three. Longer periods use calendar days.

Long Vacation is not a general shutdown

Exclude Long Vacation appears for both High Court workflows: Notice and Filing. Turn it on only when the relevant rule leaves the Long Vacation out of the step you are timing.

See the High Court profile

Follow a notice count over the July holiday period.

Open the NI example

Related Resources

Northern Ireland notice example

Five clear days using the High Court profile

Topic

Build sequential periods

Set up each documented stage and review the full timetable before calculation.

Sequential Periods

Build a sequential timetable

At-a-Glance

•Each period needs its own label, length, jurisdiction and boundaries
•The result of one period becomes the next period’s starting point
•Review all periods before running the combined calculation

Use Sequential Periods only when you already know what starts each stage. Add a clear label, period and settings for every leg, then open Review all periods to check the complete setup.

UK calculator showing a reviewed two-stage sequential calculation — Two documented periods shown together before calculation. Select the image to open the full-size view.

A calculated date does not prove the next legal trigger

The tool joins the dates mechanically. Check that the source really makes one stage’s result the trigger for the next.

Build a staged calculation

Select Sequential Periods at the top of the calculator.

Open Sequential Periods

Verification

Read and check the result

At-a-Glance

•Start with the headline date and Analysis summary
•Check the jurisdiction, boundaries and method used
•Review every weekend, holiday, closure and adjustment

Do not stop at the headline date. The result panel records how the calculator reached it.

Analysis

Confirms the direction, method, court profile and boundary assumptions applied.

Breakdown

Reconciles working, weekend, holiday, shutdown and court closure days.

Timeline

Shows where counted and excluded days sit inside the period.

Excluded Dates

Lists the individual dates omitted from a working-day count or used in a court adjustment.

Check a result

Compare the output with your source before relying on it.

Run a calculation

Topic

Troubleshooting

Find the setting most likely to explain an unexpected answer or missing control.

Final checks

Troubleshoot an unexpected answer

At-a-Glance

•One day out usually points to a boundary setting
•Several days out usually points to the method, jurisdiction or shutdown
•A missing court control normally appears only for a supported profile

The answer is one day out

Recheck Include start date and Include deadline date.

Weekends were counted

Check whether Calendar days is on. The switch is unavailable in Court Rules and Sequential modes because those modes choose the method from their own settings.

A holiday is missing

Check the UK Jurisdiction or Court Jurisdiction and the year.

No SCTS Court Calendar field appears

Select Court Rules, then Scotland.

No NI vacation control appears

Select Northern Ireland and High Court. The control is available for both Notice and Filing.

The result moved to a later date

Read the court adjustment and excluded-date list. A filing profile may move a calculated date to an open court day.

Check a complete setup

Use a scenario that matches the calculator mode you selected.

Compare a worked example