Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of access to swimming and water safety education for primary school pupils.

Swimming and water safety are vital life skills, and every child should have the opportunity to learn to swim and know how to keep themselves safe around water before they leave primary school.

The PE national curriculum makes specific reference to swimming and water safety, stating that all primary pupils must learn to swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres, use a range of strokes effectively and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

Our reforms to the PE curriculum will ensure there is a clear emphasis on swimming and water safety, and our new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network will bring the expertise of national governing bodies, including Swim England, directly into schools.

In addition, we have made changes to statutory requirements for relationships, sex and health education in both primary and secondary to ensure all pupils are taught about the water safety code, supporting them to be safe in different types of water.