Bradford’s school swimming program is shrinking at an alarming rate as more schools lean on pop-up pools, a councillor warns that the move risks long-term life-skills deficits.
A Bradford Council briefing reveals the district now hosts 62 school swim sessions in its leisure-centre pools, a steep drop from 120 during the 2023/24 financial year. Bradford has a storied history in swim education, with Wapping School famously opening the country’s first dedicated pool back in 1898.
Councillor Jeanette Sunderland criticizes the rise of temporary, “sticking plaster” pop-up facilities, describing them as inadequate for teaching essential life skills. She notes: “Bradford is the birthplace of school swimming, yet bureaucracy is choking it.”
The report explains that high transport costs are eroding the current KS2 school swimming program offered by Bradford Aquatics. From 2023 to 2025, 15 primary schools were lost to pop-up pools because they were deemed cheaper than transporting pupils to traditional pools. An additional 15 schools were lost in 2025 to 2026.
This shrinking number of lessons has created notable gaps in the district’s program and is driving a reduction in income for facilities. There is also concern from the aquatics service about potential decreases in leisure centre footfall as fewer schools participate, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
While schools can arrange their own transport, they may also opt to use Bradford Aquatics for transport via the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA). The report calls for an urgent review of WYCA’s transport costs as a matter of priority.
Ms Sunderland argues that pop-up pools cannot replace a properly resourced, official school swimming program. She emphasizes that investing more in school swimming and pupil transport would yield significant benefits, remarking: “We seem to know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. If children don’t learn to swim, very few adults start learning later.”
Share your thoughts: which aspects of school swimming policy should be priorities for improving accessibility and outcomes?
For updates on Yorkshire stories, listen to BBC Sounds highlights from West Yorkshire or catch the latest Look North episode.
