1 out of 4 children can’t swim when going into year 7.

[Quiethelper]

As the title says really. I was shocked to read over 1 out 4 children can’t swim 25m when going into year 7.

Secondary schools in our area don’t do lessons. Surly this needs to be addressed for the ones who couldn’t save themselves if they fell into water.

I would fully support and be happy for budget to be allocated for children to have essential swimming skills.

I feel really sad about this statistic.

PS feel I should add that I love swimming, including in cold water, and prioritised swimming lessons for my kid who also loves a cold water swim (but in the summer, she's too small to manage really cold water)

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/jan/30/some-children-starting-school-unable-to-climb-staircase-finds-england-and-wales-teacher-survey

No it isn’t. But the country I live in is :-)

I'm afraid I don't agree. My DD7 goes swimming with school and even with a small class of 13 it's essentially pointless as those who are reasonable/capable swimmers don't learn anything (my DD7 can swim 800m + and wasn't even allowed in the deep end until recently) and those who can't swim much at all need much more time and attention than is possible in a group lesson with a single teacher on poolside.

The only way to effectively teach would be with a much higher pupil to teacher ratio for the ones who can't swim and mixed age group lessons for the really capable swimmers. Or leave them at school and focus on the non-swimmers completely.

So now you are insulting pp's too, I wasn't aware the average Mnetter had a low level of comprehensive.
You're on fire.
Take an aspirin.

😂😂🤷‍♀️

I am not surprised, when i was young there used to be 3 swimming pools near me. 2 a bus ride away and one a twenty minute walk. All frequently used, no booking system you could just walk in and pay for a swim. They all catered to schools nearby for some hours during the week. My mum taught my brother and i to swim and i could before lessons started in school.

Then the council closed them all and built one big building with 2 swimming pools. And they only have some hours of 'free swimming' at awkward times. Either 630am to 7:30. Then another hour long slot at 0830. Then you get another hour at 1230. Rest of the time closed to public until 7pm. I feel sad that you cant just walk in for a swim at least a couple days of the week. At weekends the 'learner pool' doesnt open until 1330. I cannot take my daughter into the bigger pools cause she is too young. But then they overbooked anyway.

When she is out of naps it will be easier to take her. As the opening times always seemed to coinicide with her naps.
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I think this is a level of neglect and harm that is absolutely startling and at the very extreme end of the growing problem of school unreadiness.

I'm not sure it fits neatly alongside swimming skills though. It might. But I think there are structural issues - fewer pools, fewer lessons, cost of lessons, lessons obsessed with swimming as a sport over a life skill - that makes it more tricky to consider it simply an extension of the above.

Unfortunately swim lessons in this century are just not that effective. My Dh only had school lessons in the early-mid 2000s and he would struggle to swim 25m if his life depended on it and he was only taught breaststroke. Sure it's better than nothing but it would unlikely save him from a potential drowning situation. I grew up near the beach, I'm an ex lifeguard and competitor swimmer, so he only feels comfortable swimming with me.

I will likely not sign our children up for lessons, it's not value for money (lots of time waiting, being taught fancy tricks and not the basics) and the lesson times are awkward given we both work FT. I will just teach them myself as I have the skills to do so.

Where we live monthly quality swimming lessons in a warm pool for 5 y.o. cost £200 per month. This is 30 min per week. It will take a year for him to learn swim "somewhat" unaided. It will take 2 years for him to learn to swim OK. They will start swimming in Y2 in our state school, but the pool is freezing cold and he will probably refuse to enter altogether.
I learnt to swim on my own at 8 y.o. in our river in the woods long, long time ago. Different country, different time.

I agree with this. I can't swim myself but have still managed to participate in activities like river tubing etc

I have my son in swimming lessons as I think it's good exercise but I am always surprised by the amount of people who think being able to swim can save your life. If you were really out in the ocean then being a reasonable swimmer is likely to be ineffective. For everything else, there are life jackets.

I'm surprised the numbers are as good as that.

My DC all got to go swimming for 6 weeks every year of KS2 as it's a small school so they use up the seats on the coach.

By year 4 nearly none of the children were having any regular lessons outside of school and yet only a tiny number passed the "required standard" test.

It's a mixed catchment and the children who swim best are the most advantaged in other ways for sure, but there were also children leaving in year 6 who could neither swim, nor take part in Bikeability due to lack of bike and riding ability whose parents drove big cars and supplied them with the latest games consoles. I think this is absolutely the wrong priorities.

Swimming accessibility is a huge issue. Where we live there are no pools less than a 25/30 minute drive, no easy regular or direct public transport to them and all would cost a family of five more than £20 (on top of the transport and parking charges). The school lessons take a while afternoon for less than 30 minutes in the water.

There needs to be much better investment in swimming pools and the prices need to be heavily reduced for children and families. We used to swim all the time when I was a child/teen because our local council had a 'kids go free' offer in school holidays across all their many pools.

There is a set temperature for pools. A competition pool should be run at around 26-27 degrees C (and will be). That feels “cold” to people who are used to hotel pools that are run at bath temperature. That’s way too hot for actual exercise.

I’m a swimmer and also worked at a local sports centre for a while.

But the small pools where children are taught are colder now too and there's a lot more hanging about in lessons, sat on the side of the pool or stood still in the water waiting for your turn to swim. Well, you'll know all this having worked in a sport centre.

This statistic isn't too surprising if you bear in mind that around 20% of children in mainstream primary (that could be out of date now) have a special need / disability. For around 25% of children to be non-swimmers at age 11 does sound about right. That said, what is classed as a non-swimmer?
Schools are supposed to provide lessons in key stage 2 but how many etc is another matter. If it's half an hour a week for a term, it's not going to be enough for some children to learn the basics.

Agree 100% about butterfly! Daft, exhausting stroke. If lessons/cash are limited, I’d stick to breaststroke - easier for children to gain enough competence to swim a couple of lengths.

Anyone can accidentally into water: if you can't swim and there is nobody to rescue you, you have virtually no chance of surviving.

www.nationalwatersafety.org.uk/news/posts/2024#:~:text=The%20public%20have%20been%20urged,236%20accidental%20drownings%20in%202023.&text=Of%20the%20236%20drownings%2C%20157,for%2044%25%20of%20accidental%20fatalities.

236 drownings in the uk in 2023. Males in their 60s represented the highest number of accidental fatalities. Everyday activities such as walking and running accounted for 48% of accidental fatalities.

My neighbour has worked with kids at a school for many years and she said it was becoming more common to get kids well over 3 coming in clearly not toilet trained. Last year they had to contact a girl´s parents and they had to take the kid home, take a two week holiday and start toilet training. Nothing wrong with the girl, in perfect health, no one had bothered to teach her. She also comments on kids with full set of teeth who don´t know how to chew as everything is pureed for lesser effort. These have always been minuscule minorities but they exist and you find them now coming in every single year, when in the past it was much patchier.

My husband bought a 'Teach your child to swim' book and took our eldest weekly while we were on a wait list for swimming lessons post covid. Made absolutely no progress! Once in weekly swimming lessons she's come on massively.
BUT: its costs £80 per month for both children to have weekly 30min lessons and due to location and timings (right after school) requires a car and a family where one parent can afford to work part time to take them. So we are very lucky to have the transport, time and finances to facilitate this. Many don't.

My children's school did swimming lessons for y5 and y6 but had to stop them as it took a whole afternoon to get them there on a coach, changed, lessons, changed and back to school. There was too much to cover on the curriculum. However our council have been involved in a pilot scheme where they had a temporary (heated and covered) swimming pool for a half term and two swimming instructors. There were two pools and 4 instructors and that allowed 12 schools to have 6 weeks of lessons. The focus was on Y5 and Y6 so they all had lessons 3 times a week. The younger children had about 3 lessons each and also the option to stay after school for play sessions (charged at a reasonable price and free to those on free school meals). It was a brilliant idea and school be made national.

Did you mean to quote me?

There will be some exceptions. As I said, in my experience, most of the time it points to SEND if a child is fully in nappies with no toilet training at all.

I had school swimming lessons for years in the 1980s, and still couldn't swim at the end of it. It turns out somebody standing at the edge of the pool shouting at you isn't the best way to learn. And like lots of other people on here have said, getting a 25m swimming badge would not do much to prepare you for accidentally falling into cold water fully clothed.

Most pools aren't competition pools, though. The family pool at our local leisure centre has absolutely become colder over the last few years, to the extent that I had to get my toddler out after 15 minutes on one trip because his lips were turning blue. Which was pretty annoying since it cost me £10.40 for entry for one adult and one 2 year old.

I’m glad I’m not at school now. Can’t swim or ride a bike. Had lessons for both as a kid

I do wish organisations would understand that not everyone can swim

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-66996181.amp

If you don't have this initiative in your area lobby for it. Okay the pools are small and not as good as a proper pool but it allows children to learn to stay afloat, tread water and learn about water safety and survival skills.
Edited to say it was a great success in my childrens school last year as part of a county wide pilot.