environment and climate · the national record
Bathing water quality in England
How clean the water is at England's designated bathing waters, from the Environment Agency's official annual classifications. In the 2025 season 449 of 451 designated bathing waters were classified, and 417 of them, 92.9 per cent, met at least the minimum standard. 32 were classified Poor. This page shows the split across the four quality classes, names every water rated Poor, and tracks how the share rated Excellent or Good has moved over recent seasons.
How to read this
These are the Environment Agency's statutory bathing water classifications for England for the 2025 season, published in November 2025. Each designated bathing water is graded into one of four classes, Excellent, Good, Sufficient or Poor, from four years of water samples for the bacteria E. coli and intestinal enterococci, using the thresholds in the Bathing Water Regulations. Excellent is the cleanest class and Poor means the water did not meet the minimum standard. A classification describes typical water quality over the season, not the state of the water on any single day.
Classifications for each water computed from the Environment Agency Bathing Water Quality data API for the 2025 season and reconciled to the EA and Defra published headline for 2025. England only. Figures for earlier seasons are from the GOV.UK bathing water compliance statistics series.
The national picture
Most bathing waters clear the bar, a minority do not
For the 2025 season the Environment Agency classified 449 of England's 451 designated bathing waters. Two were not assessed because of access issues. Of those classified, 417 (92.9 per cent) met at least the minimum standard of the Bathing Water Regulations, and 392 (87.3 per cent) were rated Excellent or Good. At the other end, 32 waters (7.1 per cent) were classified Poor, meaning their water quality fell below the minimum standard. A classification reflects typical quality over four bathing seasons, so it is a measure of the water most of the time, not a guarantee on any given day.
The four classes
Two thirds rated Excellent
Every designated bathing water is graded into one of four classes. In 2025, 297 waters (66.1 per cent) were rated Excellent, the cleanest class and the highest count since the current standards began in 2015. A further 95 (21.2 per cent) were Good and 25 (5.6 per cent) were Sufficient, which still meets the minimum standard. The remaining 32 (7.1 per cent) were Poor.
Share of the 449 classified bathing waters in each class, 2025 season. Source: Environment Agency.
Below the minimum
The 32 waters classified Poor
A Poor classification means the water did not meet the minimum standard and the Environment Agency advises against bathing. These are the 32 waters rated Poor for the 2025 season, with the district and the water company responsible for the local sewerage network. The Poor list is weighted towards a handful of companies: Wessex (8), Southern (5), United Utilities (4). Several are inland river bathing sites, where quality is typically harder to achieve than at open coast beaches.
All 32 waters classified Poor, with district and the water company for the local sewerage network. 2025 season. Source: Environment Agency.
Recent seasons
The share rated Excellent or Good has slipped
The share of classified waters rated Excellent or Good ran above 92 per cent through 2019 to 2022, then fell to 85.3 per cent in 2024 before recovering to 87.3 per cent in 2025. Part of the movement reflects a growing and changing list of designated waters: more inland river sites have been designated, and these are generally harder to keep clean than coastal beaches. There was no classification in 2020, when the bathing season was not monitored during the pandemic.
Share of classified bathing waters rated Excellent or Good, England, 2019 (93.3%) to 2025 (87.3%). No classification in 2020. Source: Environment Agency.
Questions this raises
For water quality policy
- 1.
About 92.9 per cent of classified bathing waters meet at least the minimum standard, yet 32 are still rated Poor. What is the plan and the timetable to bring the Poor waters up to standard?
- 2.
A classification is built from four years of samples and describes typical quality. How well does that headline capture the risk on the days after heavy rain, when storm overflows are most likely to spill?
- 3.
Newly designated inland river sites are more likely to be rated Poor than coastal beaches. As more river sites are designated, should the targets and the monitoring be set differently for rivers?
- 4.
The Poor list is concentrated among a few water companies and catchments. Is investment being directed to the places where bathing waters are failing, and who is accountable when they do not improve?
Sources & method
Data provenance
- Bathing Water Quality data, Environment Agency (2025 season classifications) ↗· Open Government Licence v3.0
- 2025 Statistics on English coastal and inland bathing waters, Defra and Environment Agency ↗· Open Government Licence v3.0
- 2025 Bathing Waters Classifications, Environment Agency (25 November 2025) ↗· Open Government Licence v3.0
Caveats & data notes
- Classifications cover England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own bathing water programmes, so the figures are not summed to a UK total.
- A classification is based on four years of water samples and describes typical quality across the bathing season. It is not a reading of the water on any single day, and quality can be worse after heavy rain.
- Two of the 451 designated waters were not assessed for 2025 because of access issues, so 449 were classified. Percentages here are shares of the classified waters.
- The list of designated bathing waters changes over time. New sites, including a growing number of inland river locations, have been added in recent years, which affects year to year comparisons of the totals.
- There was no classification for the 2020 season, when bathing water monitoring did not run during the pandemic, so 2020 is omitted from the trend.
- Source: Environment Agency Bathing Water Quality data and the GOV.UK bathing water compliance statistics, 2025 season.
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