Around 1,300 schools or 60% of schools have pools. Those that don’t have pools can use community or council swimming pools. These can provide a safer swimming environment, better year-round facilities and more trained instructors.
We provide all schools with swimming pools additional funding as part of their annual property maintenance grant. Schools may also use their capital funding (5YA) to maintain the essential infrastructure of the pool. Schools without a pool can use their operations grant to help take students to a nearby swimming pool. Boards of trustees are responsible for delivering the curriculum and decide how funding is spent at their school.
We encourage schools without pools to collaborate with local community groups and councils, or each other. In some cases, schools have worked in partnership with local community groups and councils to co-own facilities and redevelop existing pools. We believe this approach provides better value for money both locally and nationally and leads to a better use of existing facilities.
School boards make their own decisions about closing pools, whether temporarily or permanently, and they don’t have to tell us that a pool has closed. We don't hold specific information about swimming pools which have closed in the past.
Jerome Sheppard, Head of Education Infrastructure Service.