Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 16 January (HL12720), whether the compulsory health education in schools, starting from 2020, will include water lifesaving skills.

Swimming is a vital life skill, which is why pupils are taught to swim and about water safety at primary school. Swimming and water safety are compulsory elements of the physical education (PE) curriculum at key stages 1 and 2, which sets out the expectation that pupils should be taught 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.

We are making relationships education compulsory for all primary aged pupils, relationships and sex education compulsory for all secondary aged pupils and health education compulsory for all pupils. Schools will be encouraged to teach the new subjects from September 2019. The requirement to teach the new subjects will then follow from September 2020. Following a comprehensive consultation process, including both a call for evidence and work with over 90 stakeholder and expert groups, we consulted on the draft guidance and regulations in autumn 2018.

The new subjects are designed to complement the existing curriculum requirements. Schools will be able to integrate health education with other subjects, such as PE and citizenship, where it makes sense to do so. As such, health education should complement what is already taught and develop pupils’ core knowledge and broader understanding to enable them to lead healthy, active lives. It will be up to schools to decide whether and how to build on the core swimming requirements in this context.