§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on compliance by primary schools with the requirements of the national curriculum in connection with swimming and on the trend in the estimated proportion of those at Key Stage 2 who can swim 25 m. [132907]
§ Jacqui SmithThe National Curriculum entitles all children to learn to swim unaided for a distance of 25 m by the time they leave primary school. In 1999, 82.99 per cent. of pupils were able to swim 25 m by the end of Key Stage 2, according to preliminary findings of an Ofsted report on swimming at Key Stage 2 to be published in the autumn. In 98 per cent. of observed lessons pupils made satisfactory progress or better.