Analysis finds one in four children leave primary school unable to swim

New analysis shows more than one in four children in England leave primary school unable to swim 25 metres unaided. The same study reports that child drowning deaths doubled from 20 in 2019-20 to 41 in 2022-23. Professor Carl Heneghan, Director of Oxford University's Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, said the figures point to a national swimming gap.

He urged schools to require every child to demonstrate basic water-safety skills before leaving primary school.

Recent incidents During a record-breaking May heatwave, seven children and teenagers and four adults drowned. Named victims included Junior Slater, 12, Reco Pinnock, 13, Declan Sawyer, 15, Lillianna Tomlinson, 16, and Baltazar L'Quy, 14. Water safety experts noted that open water can remain dangerously cold even in hot weather, raising the risk of cold-water shock.

Curriculum and access Swimming and water safety are compulsory parts of the national curriculum, yet 27 per cent of pupils still leave primary school without meeting the 25-metre standard. The gap rises to 35 per cent among low-income families. Heneghan's review also found that 76 per cent of public access to swimming facilities has been lost since 2010, with 500 pools closed.

Schools and local authorities have cited funding pressures, transport costs, and shortages of qualified instructors. A Department for Education spokesman said 73 per cent of children can swim 25 metres by the end of primary school and pointed to upcoming curriculum reforms and new PE partnerships with Swim England.