Achieving Swimming Progress Within A Half Term.
If you’re leading swimming provision, you know the quiet frustration that rarely gets spoken out loud.
You plan lessons meticulously. Arrange transport. Manage staffing ratios. Protect budget lines. And yet… when it comes to actual outcomes, progress can feel slow, patchy, and hard to justify.
It’s not because you’re doing anything wrong. It’s because the way swimming is structured often limits what progress is even possible. Effort isn’t the problem. Evidence is. Swimming provision isn’t judged by intention; it’s judged by results.
What PE Leads Are Expected To Show
- How many pupils can now swim 25 metres
- Which pupils have developed water safety and self-rescue skills
- That progress has been made across a whole cohort, not just confident swimmers
- That PE & Sport Premium spend has delivered measurable impact
Weekly off-site lessons make this tough. Time in the water is limited. Gaps between sessions are long. Progress varies wildly. By the time evidence is requested, the data often feels thin.
Some PE Leads are reaching a hard conclusion: “Our current model simply can’t deliver the level of progress we’re being asked to prove.”
What Changes When Progress Becomes The Priority
Schools seeing real, accelerated swimming progress haven’t pushed staff harder or raised unrealistic expectations.
They’ve changed one thing: how swimming time is organised. Instead of spreading lessons across weeks or terms, they deliver short, intensive swimming programmes on-site during the school day. This small shift transforms learning conditions.
Case Study: Chilwell Croft Academy, Progress You Can Show
MiAt Chilwell Croft Academy in Birmingham, pool closures and transport costs were making weekly swimming increasingly unworkable.
After just one half-term of on-site lessons:
• Pupils swimming 25 metres rose from 0% → 49%
• 73% of pupils met national curriculum water safety standards
For the PE Lead, the difference wasn’t just the numbers, it was that progress was:
• Cohort-wide
• Clearly measured
• Delivered within a set timeframe
This is the kind of evidence that stands up in discussions with SLT and governors.
Case Study: Charville Academy, Stronger Outcomes, Less Burden
Charville Academy in Hayes previously relied on off-site provision with high transport costs, heavy planning, and limited impact.
After seven weeks of on-site swimming:
• 25-metre attainment rose from 6% → 51%
• Water safety knowledge increased from 11% → 67%
• SEND pupils accessed swimming safely with appropriate adult support
Staff reported less planning and admin work, freeing them to focus on teaching. For PE Leads, that combination matters: stronger outcomes, less operational drag.
When Progress Reframes The Question
Mill Lodge Primary School in Solihull provides a striking comparison. Staff noticed that Year 5 pupils made more progress in two weeks of on-site swimming than in two terms of weekly off-site lessons.
Measured outcomes included:
- 25-metre swimming: 36% → 83%
- Water safety knowledge: 38% → 90%
At that point, the question isn’t: “Are we delivering swimming?”
It becomes:
“Why are we accepting a model that delivers so much less?”
Why Accelerated Progress Happens
On-site, concentrated swimming programmes give consistent advantages:
• Momentum is maintained between sessions
• Less re-teaching is required, freeing time for progression
• Assessment is clearer, showing visible before-and-after change
• Disruption is contained within a defined window
Progress isn’t faster because pupils are pushed harder, it’s faster because the learning conditions are better.
Progress You Can Defend
Accelerated progress only matters if it can be evidenced.
Schools using on-site swimming track:
- Distance swum
- Stroke competency
- Water safety understanding
- Self-rescue skills
For PE Leads, this means:
- Clear cohort-level data
- Confidence in inspections
- Strong justification for PE & Sport Premium spends
Evidence replaces explanation.
A Decision PE Leads Are Facing
If you’re responsible for swimming provision, the question is becoming unavoidable: “Does our current model let pupils make rapid, measurable progress and can I prove it?”
Schools achieving half-term progress have answered this by changing structure, not expectations.
Test This Approach in Practice
If you’d like to explore whether on-site swimming could work for your school, you can:
- Join a Discovery Webinar (5 March or 22 April), covering safeguarding, staffing, timetabling, and assessment.
- Download the Swim:ED Impact Report, featuring national data and real school case studies
Both options are designed to support informed decision-making, with no obligation. read more from our case study here.