Eastbourne’s 2025 classification
Eastbourne’s designated bathing water received a Good classification in Defra’s 2025 bathing-water results. The national table identifies it as bathing-water reference 14500.
The same assessment records Sufficient at Bexhill and Excellent at Norman’s Bay. Pevensey Bay was classified Good, while Birling Gap and Seaford were both Excellent.
What annual monitoring measures
At every designated bathing water in England, the Environment Agency monitors Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci. Defra’s 2025 monitoring summary describes sampling during the official bathing season, between 15 May and 30 September.
For established bathing waters, the annual classification uses readings from the previous four bathing seasons. The 2025 assessments therefore cover 2022 to 2025.
According to Defra, readings can vary with the weather, pollution from agricultural and urban sources, and storm water overflows, amongst other factors.
For bathing waters designated at the start of the 2024 season, Defra based the 2025 classifications on two seasons of samples.
Changes to bathing-water regulation
Reforms to the Bathing Water Regulations came into force on 21 November 2025. In their announcement of the changes, Defra and the Environment Agency explained that automatic de-designation after five consecutive Poor classifications had ended.
The reforms also allow sites to apply to change the boundaries of their bathing season.
Current water-quality information
Defra and the Environment Agency encourage people to use Swimfo, the Environment Agency’s online service for the latest bathing-water quality and incident information. The authorities describe the service as helping the public make informed decisions about where and when to swim.