A subframe scheduling method and a base station are disclosed. The method is applied to the base station and includes: when preempting an unlicensed carrier, obtaining, by the base station, a starting position of the preempted unlicensed carrier; determining a first number and a type of a first subframe based on the starting position, where the first number is a symbol number corresponding to the starting position that is used by the base station to send data, and the first subframe is a subframe in which a symbol corresponding to the first number is located; and sending the type of the first subframe and the first number to a terminal. In embodiments of the present invention, a processing process of the terminal can be simplified.