The BBC has today published new analysis of Department for Education data obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, providing for the first time a by-school breakdown of swimming attainment – and the findings once again put an issue I have spoken and written about many times firmly in the spotlight.

While the figures show that many of the challenges we have long highlighted remain, there is also a real opportunity, through the collective work now taking place across the sector, to turn that understanding into positive and lasting change.

The BBC report that across England, on average, 72% of pupils could swim 25 metres, while 70% could perform a self-rescue. More concerning is the disparity revealed when schools are compared by levels of free school meal eligibility.

In schools with the highest proportion of pupils receiving free school meals, on average only 55% could swim 25 metres, according to the BBC. Meanwhile, in schools with the lowest proportion receiving free school meals, 83% of Year 6 pupils could confidently swim the distance. The percentages exclude 370 special schools.

Sadly, these findings don’t surprise me, or my fellow swimming colleagues.

For many children, particularly those whose families may not be able to access private swimming lessons at their local leisure centre or at an independent swim school, school could be their only opportunity to learn. Yet the BBC’s analysis suggests that those who may rely most heavily on school swimming are less likely to achieve the required outcome.

That should concern us all.

Swimming is already part of the National Curriculum. By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils are expected to swim competently, confidently and proficiently over at least 25 metres, use a range of strokes effectively and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

But putting something on the curriculum and ensuring every child has a meaningful opportunity to achieve it are two different things.

We know many of the challenges. We’ve been talking about them for years: access to swimming pools, transport costs, workforce pressures and the amount of curriculum time available.

There is also the reality of what school swimming can look like in practice.

For some children, their entire primary school swimming experience may amount to just one term of lessons, potentially as part of a class of around 30 children with vastly different abilities.

Factor in changing, safety briefings and the practicalities of managing a large group, and the amount of active learning time in the water can quickly reduce.

For a child arriving with little or no water confidence, we have to ask whether that provides enough meaningful time to develop the skills and confidence needed to become a proficient swimmer.

The BBC report backs this up by saying “Most school groups only get six weeks of 30-minute sessions to learn basic swimming skills – three hours in total”.

Priority and accountability

There is another issue I’ve raised before: priority and accountability.

Schools face enormous pressures and competing demands on curriculum time. Understandably, subjects that are closely measured, inspected and used to judge school performance will inevitably receive significant focus.

Previous Ofsted reporting has described pupils’ attainment in swimming and water safety as mixed. Yet children, as evidenced again today by the BBC, continue to leave primary school without achieving the swimming outcomes set out in the National Curriculum.

This isn’t about blaming schools. They are operating within a system and face genuine practical challenges. But if we believe swimming is an essential life skill, we have to look beyond individual schools and ask whether the wider education system gives it the priority it deserves.

Looking at the bigger picture

Facilities are clearly an important part of this conversation too.

The long-term picture has to include ensuring communities have affordable access to high-quality, sustainable swimming facilities – facilities that can support school swimming, but also serve children, families and the wider community throughout their lives.

We cannot have a postcode lottery where a child’s opportunity to learn to swim is determined by where they live, whether their school has access to a suitable local pool, or whether their family can afford private lessons.

This is why STA, as a member of The Swimming Alliance, supports the need for a National Facilities Strategy that ensures every community has affordable access to a swimming pool that serves all their needs.

Alongside this, The Swimming Alliance’s Schools Swimming Taskforce is bringing together 25 national organisations from across the sector to address long-standing challenges and work towards a more consistent national framework for school swimming.

This collective approach is important because the issue is bigger than whether a child can complete 25 metres. We need to think more broadly about water competence – giving children the practical skills, knowledge, confidence and judgement they need to enjoy water safely throughout their lives.

A positive step forward this September

There is also an important change coming into effect next month.

From September, water safety education becomes a statutory part of Relationships and Sex Education in England. For the first time, pupils will receive age-appropriate water safety education throughout their school journey, including recognising hazards, understanding risk and making safer decisions around water.

This is a hugely positive development, but it is important to be clear that the new requirements complement, rather than replace, practical school swimming.

I’ve said this before and I’ll keep saying it: learning to swim and learning how to stay safe around water must go hand in hand.

Knowing how to recognise danger and make safe decisions around water is vital, but children also need the practical skills and confidence to help themselves if they find themselves in difficulty.

An opportunity for lasting change

Despite these long-standing challenges, there are positive reasons to look forward.

We have new statutory water safety education coming into effect, we have organisations working collectively through The Swimming Alliance to look at school swimming and the facilities needed to support it, and we have new evidence from the BBC shining a light on where inequalities remain.

With a new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, who over the years has been a strong supporter of physical education and understands the importance of getting children active, there is also a real opportunity to keep school swimming firmly on the agenda.

Hopefully, we can use this renewed focus not simply to revisit the challenges we already know exist, but to help shape a more consistent approach that gives more children a meaningful opportunity to learn.

Because ultimately, every child – regardless of their background, family income or where they live – should have the opportunity to learn to swim and develop the water safety skills and confidence they need for life.