Hack your Leave: How to Maximise your Annual Leave in 2025 (UK)

Hoping to make the most of your annual leave? Check out our guide on the best days to book off in 2025 to make the most of your leave entitlement.

Dates to book off in December going into January 2025

Ease into 2025 with a nice 12 day break. By requesting the 27th, 30th and 31st of December and the 2nd and 3rd of January off, you'll only have to take 5 days annual leave (better yet if you're from Scotland with only 4 days annual leave required due to the additional New Year's bank holiday).

Dates to book off in April

16 consecutive days out of office are up for grabs by requesting the 14th-17th and the 22nd-25th off. With these 8 days of annual leave, you can enjoy a nice spring break.

Dates to book off in May

Request the 6th-9th and the 27th-30th off to have a total of 18 days holidays. With only 8 days annual leave, this is a perfect opportunity to kick off the summer months.

Dates to book off in August

If you're based in Scotland, the opportunity to take a long weekend presents itself at the beginning of the month with a bank holiday on the 4th. Make the most of those last rays of sunshine while only using 2 days annual leave.

For the rest of the UK, by requesting the 26th-29th off, you can take a 9 day vacation while also only using 2 days annual leave.

Dates to book off in December

For folks in Scotland, fancy a long weekend at the beginning of December? By requesting the 28th of November and the 2nd of December off, you can enjoy 5 days out of office. With a public holiday on December 1st, it's the perfect time to kickstart your Christmas preparations!

For those of us not based in Scotland, we can still turn 6 days annual leave into 13 days holidays in December. By requesting the 22nd to the 24th off, you can make the most of the festivities with family and friends.

With the guide above, by using up to 32 days leave, you can get up to 72 days off - now that's a hack.