Crucial more Hull kids learn to swim, experts say

More should be done to ensure children learn how to swim in Hull, water safety experts say.

Figures compiled by the BBC show just 57% of children from the city can swim 25m (82ft) proficiently when they leave primary school, compared with 72% nationally.

Alan Stewart, a Hull-based member of HM Coastguard, said: "It's absolutely key for people from a young age to teach their children to swim because as an adult or parent, you can't always be with them, you can't always protect them going into water."

Matthew Rudd, who was overseeing swimming lessons at a Hull pool, said: "If a child or person of any age finds themselves in water and they don't know what to do, then they're in serious trouble."

Rudd, a tutor for the Swimming Teachers' Association (STA), was watching six trainee teachers taking their first lesson with beginners at Albert Avenue Pools.

"We are not teaching a sport here, we are teaching a life skill," he said.

"It's not just being able to propel yourself from one side of the pool to the other, but it's about making sure you can stay safe in the water."

The national curriculum states that Year 6 pupils should be able to swim proficiently over at least 25m, use a range of strokes and perform a safe "self-rescue", which involves being able to tread water, float and leave the water unaided.

The figures, for 2024-25, show 67% of pupils in Hull could perform a self-rescue, but only 53% could perform a range of swimming strokes.

In the neighbouring East Riding of Yorkshire, 75% could swim 25m, 79% could perform a self-rescue and 73% could swim a range of strokes.

Nationally, the BBC found poorer outcomes at schools with a higher proportion of disadvantaged children.

The Department for Education (DfE) said it was aware of the gap and it needed to change.

Rudd said a range of factors could affect how many children learned to swim, including the availability of facilities, affordability of lessons and the attitude of parents and guardians.

"We find that an awful lot of children who have to come under the National Curriculum guidelines at the age of eight have never been in a swimming pool before," he added.

Keith Lowthorpe, who had brought his eight-year-old grandson to the session, said it was "very important" to learn in light of recent deaths in water around the country.

He said he would like to see more swimming pools locally.

"What have we got, three or four in Hull? It's a big city, so we could do with one or two more."

Samuel Ekpeowoh, whose children aged six and five were taking part in the lesson, said they loved swimming.

He suggested more discounts for swimming lessons would encourage other families to take the plunge.

Stewart said he believed children not knowing how to swim was a "growing issue".

"We should absolutely be doing more to teach in schools," he said.

"You're not talking about hours and hours, it can just take minutes to teach the basics.

"If they've got that basic understanding of water survival skills, it can make such a difference."

Yusef Forster, of the Humber Rescue lifeboat charity, said people from Hull could be vulnerable when visiting the coast.

"If they don't know how to swim and they get into difficulty, that's quite a big problem, because it takes seconds for you to end up in difficulty and not really know what you're doing.

"While we're getting a lot of warmer weather, we need to continue to spread the message that as we become a nation that goes to use the water more, we should all be able to know how to swim."

The DfE said a new PE Partnership Network, bringing together schools, local clubs and national bodies, would help close the gap seen by disadvantaged children.

"This means targeted support for the areas and pupils who need it most, so that every child, wherever they live, gets the same chance to learn to swim," a spokesperson added.

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