The figures are published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Swimming and recognised national governing body Swim England, who warn of a ‘lost generation’ of swimmers unless action is taken to halt the projected decline.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic around one in four children could not swim the statutory 25 metres when they left primary school – and it is feared that could rise to three in five children by the 2025-26 academic year.

The Impact of Coronavirus on School Swimming and Water Safety report reveals that 1,186,555 pupils are expected to leave primary school between 2021-22 and 2025-26 unable to swim 25 metres unaided.

Catherine West, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Swimming, said they would raise the matter with the Department for Education as a matter of urgency in a bid to prevent the projections becoming a reality.

“Swimming and water safety is a vital life skill that every child should have. Aside from the numerous health and wellbeing benefits of swimming, it is no exaggeration to say that learning how to swim, and about the importance of water safety, are skills that could one day save a life,” she said.

“With drowning sadly remaining one of the most common causes of accidental death in the UK, this is more important than ever. Covid has hugely impacted on every facet of our children’s education and placed pressures on schools and teachers up and down the country. With pools closed for much of 2020, school swimming is no different and this report shows the impact Covid has had on school swimming and water safety attainment levels.”

Swimming and water safety have been a statutory element of the national curriculum for physical education in England since 1994.