Annual leave guide

keep track of your annual leave entitlement using the calculators provided

Annual leave is an important benefit and staff are encouraged to book annual leave throughout the year to ensure that they are taking regular breaks from work. At LSE, full-time staff are entitled to 25 days’ annual leave, 8 days of public (bank) holiday, and 8 days of School closure which is made up of 5 days at Christmas and 3 at Easter. This total of 41 days is pro-rata for part-time staff.

Two additional bank holidays were announced during 2022 (on 3 June and 19 September respectively), which meant that the entitlement for full-time staff in the 2022 leave year was 43 days (pro-rata for part-time staff). SMC also announced on 9 November that the winter closure period will be exceptionally extended by 3 days in 2022. Please click here for FAQs that provide further details about what this means for individual annual leave scenarios.   

As a consequence of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) situation, staff could previously carry over up to four weeks of annual leave (pro rata for part-time staff) and spread this over the 2021 and 2022 leave years. Carry-over into the 2023 leave year will return to normal practice; additional information on this will be included in the FAQs.

For more details about the principles by which staff and managers should manage annual leave entitlements, please see the Use of Annual Leave Policy for Professional Services Staff

Holiday calculator (Full time)

If you are joining the LSE, or leaving, you can calculate your adjusted entitlement using the following form:

Holiday Calculator 2022 - Full Time

Holiday Calculator 2023 - Full Time

Holiday Calculator 2024 - Full Time


Holiday calculator (Part time)

If you are a part time member of staff joining the LSE, or leaving, you can calculate your adjusted entitlement using the following form: 

Holiday Calculator 2022 - Part Time

Holiday Calculator 2023 - Part Time

Holiday Calculator 2024 - Part Time

As most English public holidays fall on a Monday, part-time staff who, for example, don't work Mondays need to be compensated with additional annual leave to make up for the public holidays they miss.

Conversely part-time staff who normally work Mondays will receive slightly less annual leave to make up for their over-allocation public holidays. These calculators takes into account these factors and adjust your entitlement accordingly.


Public holidays & school closure days

For a table outlining the pattern of English public holidays and LSE School Closure Days for 2020-2022, please click here.

Please be aware that there is an additional Bank Holiday on 3rd June 2022 for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.  Annual leave entitlements have been adjusted to include this additional day on MyView and the Annual Leave Calculators and will be deducted from your leave balance. 

If you use MyView to book your annual leave, please ensure all of your Bank Holidays and School Closure Days are booked on your record.  If you are new to the school, are Part Time or work an irregular work pattern you will need to book these yourselves.

To understand more about how we calculate Annual Leave Entitlements, including Bank Holiday and School Closure day rules, please refer to the Annual Leave Pocket Guide.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is the leave year the calendar year or the academic year?

The leave year is the calendar year, i.e. January - December. 

What is a reasonable amount of notice when informing my line manager of my intention to take my annual leave?

Usually it is expected that members of staff should give their line manager notice of at least twice the length of the period of leave to be taken. In some rare cases, operational reasons may necessitate that leave cannot be granted at the preferred time.

Can I carry over my annual leave?

As a consequence of the coronavirus situation, staff can carry over up to four weeks of annual leave (pro rata for part-time staff) and spread this over the next two leave years (2021 and 2022). Staff are encouraged to continue to book annual leave to ensure that they are taking regular breaks from work.

Requests for exceptional carry over can be made via MyView at the begining of each new annual leaver year. The form to request carry over leave into the 2023 year will be made available in MyView in January 2023.  

I've just started at LSE. How is my leave calculated for my first year?

Your entitlement during your first leave year is adjusted on a pro-rata basis. Your new leave year is calculated using your start date through to the 31st December. 

I'm leaving LSE. How is my final leave calculated?

Your final salary is adjusted to take into account the amount of leave you have taken during the calendar year. 

You can calculate this figure using the calculator above.

Taking annual leave in 2022

Towards the end of 2021, we highlighted the need for colleagues to use their annual leave and any additional days carried forward, to take regular breaks from work. Across 2022, we want to ensure that leave is being used throughout, so there is not an excess number of days built up towards the end of the year, as the carry over policy will revert to no more than 5 days at the end of 2022.

To support staff in taking leave and ensure managers can properly plan and accommodate requests, we would like all professional services staff to take 40% of their full leave entitlement, by the end of June. This has been set out so that by the end of the calendar year we are not in a difficult position with overwhelmed staff and untaken leave. 

Guidance on taking your leave in 2022:

  • You should aim to take approximately 40% your leave entitlement, including the standard 25 days leave (pro-rata), plus any leave which you have carried over from the previous year, by 30 June 2022. This does include School closure days and bank holidays.
  • If you have already planned to take a higher proportion of leave in the second half of the year, please discuss this with your line manager as soon as possible so that they are aware of how you plan to use your leave entitlement throughout this year
  • At the end of this year, you will only be able to carry over 5 days or fewer, reverting to the standard contractual carry over in place, pre-pandemic
  • Managers are aware of this and should make reasonable efforts and accommodations so that staff can use their leave in this time
  • Leave should be booked through MyView. You can view key dates for School closure and bank holidays online.

Why is this request being made this year and will it apply next year? 

During the pandemic, it was agreed that up to twenty days’ leave (pro rata if part-time) could exceptionally be carried over into 2021 and taken throughout 2021/22.  As such, the expectation is that normal carry over entitlements will resume at the end of 2022. This means individuals will be able to carry over up to five days’ leave (pro rata) from their 2022 allowance into 2023.

These changes were introduced to allow staff more flexibility in taking their leave given the exceptional circumstances as a result of the pandemic and the impact that this had on individuals’ working arrangements, home lives and travel plans.  We are aware, however, that for various reasons, this has resulted in many people not taking regular breaks, which has, in some cases, led to a build-up of annual leave.

As this is the final year where the additional carry over can be used, we want to make sure we are helping staff to plan and use their leave, ensuring they are supported by managers and that proper planning can be put in place to make this possible.

This is not a permanent change to how leave is used at LSE.