Bradford faces a startling drop in school swimming lessons at local leisure centres as many schools pivot to pop-up pools, driven by soaring transport costs, a councillor warns.
A Bradford Council report shows 62 school swim sessions are currently held in council-operated pools, down from 120 in the 2023/24 financial year.
Bradford has a storied history with swimming education, dating back to Wapping School, which became the first in the nation to operate its own pool in 1898.
Councillor Jeanette Sunderland described the use of temporary, pop-up facilities as a “band-aid” solution that fails to teach life-saving skills. She highlighted Bradford’s heritage as the birthplace of school swimming, while arguing that bureaucratic hurdles are stifling it.
The report explains that the present setup is harming the KS2 school swimming program run by the Bradford Aquatics Service due to the high cost of transportation.
From 2023 to 2025, the service lost 15 primary schools to pop-up pools, with guidance indicating pop-up pools were cheaper than the combined cost of lessons and transport.
Another 15 primary schools were lost in 2025 to 2026.
As a result, the report notes the district’s lesson schedule now shows “significant gaps” and a reduction in income for facilities that rely on pool-based activities.
There is concern within the aquatics service about a potential knock-on effect on footfall at leisure centres, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Schools can arrange their own transport to the pool, or they may opt to have Bradford Aquatics coordinate transport through the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA).
The report calls for an urgent reassessment of the transport costs already agreed with WYCA.
Ms. Sunderland asserted that pop-up pools cannot replace learning within a proper, official swimming pool environment.
She urged greater investment in school swimming programs and transportation to pools, arguing that costs are often calculated without fully reflecting their value. “If children don’t learn to swim, very few adults take up swimming later in life.”
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