England’s bathing water results are out, but do they tell the full story?
Rachel Salvidge
The Environment Agency has released England’s latest bathing water classifications and the headline, pushed by Defra, is that 87% of bathing waters are rated Excellent or Good. Ministers call this a “success story”. The Government press release talks about “cleaner rivers and seas”.
But behind the spin, the data tells a more complicated story. And when set alongside Watershed’s investigation into bathing waters with scientists at the University of York, citizen scientists, and Surfers Against Sewage, it becomes clear that the government’s testing regime needs work.
I’ve plotted the results on the Watershed Pollution Map, so you can see whether or not each site has improved year on year.
There is some good news. The number of excellent sites rose from 289 to 297, poor sites fell from 37 to 32, sufficient sites dropped from 29 to 25.
But when you consider that dozens of bathing waters remain badly polluted year after year, it seems less of a win…
| Bathing Water Name | 2025 Classification | 2024 Classification |
| Tynemouth Cullercoats | Poor | Poor |
| Littlehaven Beach | Poor | Poor |
| Scarborough South Bay | Poor | Poor |
| Wharfe at Cromwheel, Ilkley | Poor | Poor |
| Nidd at the Lido, Knaresborough | Poor | Poor |
| Wharfe at Wilderness Carpark | Poor | Poor |
| Sheep’s Green, River Cam | Poor | Poor |
| Wolvercote Mill Stream | Poor | Poor |
| Dymchurch | Poor | Poor |
| Littlestone | Poor | Poor |
| Worthing Beach House | Poor | Poor |
| Bognor Regis (Aldwick) | Poor | Poor |
| Southsea East | Poor | Poor |
| River Avon at Fordingbridge | Poor | Poor |
| Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach | Poor | Poor |
| Stoke Gabriel, Dart Estuary | Poor | Sufficient |
| Steamer Quay, Dart Estuary | Poor | Poor |
| Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary | Poor | Poor |
| Dunster Beach | Poor | Poor |
| Blue Anchor West | Poor | Poor |
| River Tone at French Weir Park | Poor | Poor |
| Weston-super-Mare Uphill Slipway | Poor | Poor |
| Weston Main | Poor | Poor |
| Weston-super-Mare Sand Bay | Poor | Poor |
| River Frome at Farleigh Hungerford | Poor | Poor |
| River Teme in Ludlow | Poor | Poor |
| River Severn at Ironbridge | Poor | Poor |
| River Severn in Shrewsbury | Poor | Poor |
| Blackpool North | Poor | Poor |
| Haverigg | Poor | Sufficient |
| Derwent Water at Crow Park | Poor | Poor |
| River Ribble at Edisford Bridge | Poor | Poor |
And “Excellent” doesn’t always mean safe. The EA’s classification system is based on spot samples that miss pollution incidents and tests only for two bacteria (E.coli and enterococci), it averages sample results over four years masking critical details, it samples each site only around 15 times per bathing water season (May-Sept). It ignores a host of concerning chemicals, pharmaceuticals, superbugs and pathogens.
Watershed’s 2024 investigation, carried out with the University of York and Surfers Against Sewage, exposed widespread contamination at popular UK swimming spots, including officially designated bathing waters. The work was shown on ITV and in The Times.
Over a week of sampling, we found E.coli up to 22x higher than US safe limits, superbug genes that can lead to AMR and a broader chemical cocktails of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and PFAS.
The government says this year’s results arrive “as new reforms come into law”, including automatic de-designation after five consecutive Poor classifications and introducing flexibility for site-specific bathing seasons, which means that sites can apply to change the boundaries of their bathing season.
This is the “first shake-up in a decade”, according to Defra. But the reforms do not introduce testing for chemicals, pharmaceuticals, or resistance genes. They do not require testing after sewage spills. They do not bring UK standards in line with US, NZ or EU thresholds. This is why campaigners — and many scientists — argue they fall far short of what is needed.
A further reform, which will look at new bathing water criteria, will come into force in May 2026 to allow guidance to be fully developed.
rachel.salvidge@watershedinvestigations.com
