Schools: Swimming

(asked on 8th December 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of schools in England do not offer swimming lessons to their pupils.


Answered by
Baroness Barran Portrait
Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This question was answered on 17th December 2021

The department does not collect data from schools on swimming lesson provision to pupils. All schools in receipt of the primary PE and sport premium are required to publish information on the percentage of their pupils in year 6 who met each of the three swimming and water safety national curriculum expectations.

The department has published guidance to schools and local authorities on charging for school activities. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charging-for-school-activities. The guidance makes clear that schools cannot charge for education provided in school hours or education provided outside of school hours where it is part of the national curriculum. The department has not made an assessment of schools that charge for swimming lessons.

Schools receive general funding for all curriculum provision including PE (and by extension swimming and water safety lessons). This funding is not ringfenced or split by subject and schools have the flexibility to allocate their funding to deliver a diverse curriculum which best suits the needs of all the students.

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