Online reporting tool can help improve school swimming attainment levels

An online reporting tool for schools to submit swimming and water safety results will be key to help tackle ‘unacceptable inequalities’ in pupils’ attainment levels across the country.

Swim England is encouraging schools to share their data for the 2023-24 academic year on the Department for Education’s website.

The results will help the national governing body to offer targeted support to schools and pupils who need it the most.

Schools have until Wednesday 31 July to submit their results.

Next year, it will be compulsory for all schools to provide this information through the online reporting tool for the 2024-2025 academic year.

For years, Swim England has campaigned for better data regarding the state of swimming attainment levels.

It has welcomed the introduction of the online reporting tool which is a first step in improving the data available.

Ashley Jones, Swim England’s water safety and drowning prevention manager, said that the results will help ensure every child can develop these crucial skills that could one day save their life and will set them up for a lifetime of enjoyment in the water.

He added: “The introduction of the online reporting tool is a really welcome first step in helping to better understand the true situation up and down the country regarding school swimming and water safety attainment levels – and will help us to provide better targeted support to the schools and pupils who need it the most.

“This will help us tackle the unacceptable inequalities we currently see in attainment levels between the richest and poorest children as well as those from ethnically diverse communities.

Free resources

“We know schools are under enormous pressures but would encourage all schools to provide this information and to prioritise school swimming and water safety for their pupils.”

Swimming and water safety is a key part of the national curriculum and, by the time pupils leave primary school, children should be able to:

• Perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations
• Swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres
• Use a range of strokes effectively, for example front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke

Swim England provides resources to help schools with their school swimming and water safety lessons.

This includes a full range of free-to-access digital resources from the School Swimming and Water Safety Charter.

Find out more details by clicking here.