The Commons: Sinking Standards – The Alarming Decline Of Children’s Swimming Ability In The UK

Catherine Delahaye

British children’s swimming proficiency has steeply declined in the past five years. In 2018, Swim England undertook a report that found that 23% of children leaving primary school could not swim 25m unaided. In 2024, this figure stood at 30%. The ability to swim is a crucial life skill and provides many health benefits, so despite swimming lessons occupying a spot on the national curriculum, why is this skill suffering among British children?

Firstly, the Covid-19 pandemic closed pools and schools across the country in 2020, meaning timetabled swimming lessons were cancelled for hundreds of thousands of primary school children. Typically, British primary schools only have swimming lessons for one term of the academic year, so many who missed out on swimming were not able to catch up within the school system. This disruption created a backlog that many schools and local authorities have struggled to address. Leisure centers, which are often the primary providers of swimming facilities for schools, have faced significant challenges in reopening, with some closing permanently due to financial pressures. According to Ukactive, almost 400 pools have closed across the UK since 2019, further limiting access to swimming lessons. This lack of infrastructure has left schools with fewer options for fulfilling their curriculum requirements, and many parents have been unable to fill the gap due to the costs of private swimming lessons being unaffordable during the current cost-of-living crisis in the UK.

Child swimming proficiency also has strong links to deprivation and parental income, with privately educated students being much more likely to be able to swim. According to a survey conducted by the charitable social enterprise Better, 61% of people recognize the cost of swimming lessons to be their biggest barrier that is holding their children back from swimming. As a result, while 92.2% of children from wealthier backgrounds could self-rescue by age 11, this dropped to 62.5% when compared to children from low-income households. Privately educated children often benefit from on-site pools and regular, structured lessons as part of their schooling, while state schools have to rely on external facilities, which may be costly or difficult to access. Leisure center closures in less affluent areas have further restricted opportunities for low-income families, leaving many children without affordable alternatives. The Swimming Teachers' Association has called for targeted subsidies or government-backed initiatives to ensure that all children, regardless of background, have the opportunity to learn to swim. Without such measures, the gap between wealthier and poorer families could widen further, perpetuating inequalities and putting children from disadvantaged backgrounds at a higher risk of drowning as well as missing out on the numerous physical and mental health benefits that swimming can provide.

So, what plans do the government currently have to address these issues? In 2023, the then Conservative government introduced their ‘Get Active’ sports strategy, with them stating, “Whoever you are, or wherever you live there should be good facilities, a strong network of sports clubs that are open to you, great sport and physical activity opportunities in schools, and confidence in sport and the sector.” The reaction from Swim England chief executive, Jane Nickerson, was positive, “Swim England welcomes the new strategy from the government which correctly identifies the vital role of sport and physical activity in supporting and improving the health and wellbeing of the nation and recognizes the importance of having the right facilities for communities.” However, the strategy appears very broad and unfocused on the specific accessibility issues that children are facing when it comes to swimming.

The new Labour government have yet to announce any specific measures to help tackle these problems either. Their 2024 manifesto stated, “We will get more children active by protecting time for physical education, and supporting the role grassroots clubs play in expanding access to sport.” This seems to be supporting the previous administration’s plans to increase the number of active children, and while they support making more time for general ‘sport’, there are no concrete policies to deal with the issues surrounding swimming proficiency in primary school children and opportunities for children in deprived areas. To address these challenges, a more targeted and comprehensive approach is urgently needed. Current government initiatives fail to address the specific barriers to swimming proficiency, such as access to facilities, affordability, and the structural inequalities between public and private schools. Some potential solutions include targeted subsidies to low-income areas to ensure schools can provide swimming lessons, increased funding and grants to leisure centers (especially council and not-for-profit run centers) to reduce prices and increase availability, and raising awareness through community campaigns and outreach using charities to highlight the importance for schools and parents to ensure British children can swim.

If these issues remain unaddressed, there could be severe consequences. Children leaving primary school without the ability to swim are at a significantly higher risk of drowning, particularly during summer months when families like to go on beach holidays. The royal lifesaving society released a report in 2024 showing the number of children drowning in England has more than doubled since 2020. In addition to the safety risks, the lack of swimming proficiency limits children’s participation in water-based sports and activities, depriving them of both the physical health benefits and the social and emotional development that these activities foster. Regular swimming can help combat childhood obesity, improve cardiovascular health, and provide a low-impact option for children with physical disabilities or joint issues. Without access to swimming lessons, these benefits become inaccessible to many children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Number of Child Drowning Deaths in England

The ability to swim is not just a sport or leisure activity, it is a matter of public safety and health. The country and the government need to commit to clear and focused measures, to ensure that every child, regardless of background, has the opportunity to learn to swim and benefit from the lifelong advantages it offers. The time to act is now, before the gap widens further, and more children are left behind.