Start your swimming teacher course

Becoming a swimming teacher can be a rewarding yet challenging role. The swimming teacher qualification will help unlock your potential to deliver fun and safe swimming lessons, allowing children to develop water confidence and most importantly an invaluable life skill. We are also proud to run the country’s largest swim school programme, so there’s great opportunities for career progression with a range of vacancies available across our leisure centres.

What types of swimming teacher qualifications do Better provide?

STA Level 2 Award in Teaching Swimming

Price: £365                                                                                            Duration: 5 days

This is your first step to becoming a qualified swimming teacher. The course will teach you how to deliver safe, progressive, engaging and active lessons to children from non-swimmers through to improver ability. You will learn about the essential swimming skills and how these help a child to develop the basic techniques for all four swimming strokes. The course will introduce you to the principles of effective teaching, looking at health and safety, safeguarding, communication, motivation and feedback, as well as how to plan and evaluate your teaching skills. During the course you will teach a range of ability groups from non-swimmers to improvers, teaching between 4 to 8 pupils in and out of the water.

Course requirements

  • You must be 16 years of age or older
  • You must hold current membership of STA. Please note that we require your STA membership number 5 days before the commencement of your course so that we can ensure you are registered on the course correctly

Book STA Level 2 Award in Teaching Swimming course

Location Course Dates Places left  
North City Family and Fitness Centre - Manchester 04/04/2024 – 12/04/2024 0 Full
White Horse Leisure & Tennis Centre 05/04/2024 – 30/04/2024 0 Full
The Hive - Cambridgeshire 15/04/2024 – 19/04/2024 2 Book
Waltham Forest Feel Good Centre 22/04/2024 – 26/04/2024 0 Full
New Barnet Leisure Centre 06/05/2024 – 10/05/2024 3 Book
Sleaford Leisure Centre 27/05/2024 – 01/06/2024 8 Book
Link Centre - Swindon 28/05/2024 – 01/06/2024 5 Book
Waddon Leisure Centre - Croydon 08/06/2024 – 29/06/2024 6 Book

STA Baby and Pre School Swimming Award

Price: £350                                                                                            Duration: 4 days
This qualification is for individuals, who wish to work with babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers and their accompanying adults. No prior experience of working with children or teaching swimming lessons is required. The course will teach you how to deliver safe, progressive, and engaging baby and pre-school lessons, with an emphasis on a child-focused approach.  During the course you will deliver lessons in our SWIMBiES programme, working with babies from 3 months old through to 4 years old. You will learn about the essential baby swimming skills, the core holds, child development, cues and reflexes to enable you to understand how to deliver progressive and suitable lessons that meet the needs of the parent and child.

The course will introduce you to the principles of effective baby and pre-school teaching skills, looking at health and safety, communication, organisational methods, motivation and feedback, as well as how to plan and evaluate your teaching skills. You will learn a range of activities, songs and progressions throughout the course.

Course requirements

  • You must be 18 years of age or older
  • You must hold current membership of STA. Please note that we require your STA membership number 5 days before the commencement of your course so that we can ensure you are registered on the course correctly
  • Hold the Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults online learning certificate or acceptable equivalent

Book STA Baby and Pre School Swimming Award

STA Level 2 Certificate in Teaching Swimming

Price: £400                                                                                Duration: 4 days

This qualification is your next step to becoming a fully qualified swimming teacher. The course will develop your existing teaching skills and knowledge focusing on how to deliver safe, progressive, engaging and active lessons to advanced swimmers. You will learn about advanced swimming skills, as well as developing your knowledge of the four competitive swimming strokes. You will also learn about delivering School Swimming lessons, with the opportunity to have practical experience during the course. Teaching adult swimmers will also be covered, ensuring that you understand the key differences between teaching children.

The course will focus on ensuring you can deliver effective lessons to large groups, displaying the ability to plan for a range of abilities, differentiating and adapting to the needs of your pupils. Successfully passing the qualification will enable you to deliver lessons from non-swimmers through to advanced swimmers, for both children and adults.

Course requirements

  • You must be 16 years of age or older
  • You must hold current membership of STA . Please note that we require your STA membership number 5 days before the commencement of your course so that we can ensure you are registered on the course correctly.
  • Hold the STA Award in Teaching Swimming or acceptable equivalent (please note the ASA Level 1 Award in Aquatic Teaching is not an acceptable pre-requisite)

Book STA Level 2 Certificate in Teaching Swimming

Location Course Dates Places left  
Bath Sports & Leisure Centre 02/04/2024 – 08/04/2024 3 Book
The Sands Centre - Cumbria 15/04/2024 – 24/04/2024 5 Book
Kensington Leisure Centre 20/05/2024 – 24/05/2024 2 Book

STA Level 2 Award in Aquatic Teaching - Disability Swimming

Price: Funded                                                                               Duration: 3 days

The STA Award in Aquatic Teaching – Disability Swimming aims to train learners to teach aquatic activities to disabled individuals and groups. This qualification is for learners who wish to work with participants who have a disability in mainstream or disability swimming lessons and help them to develop both as swimmers and individuals in the aquatic environment.The STA Award in Aquatic Teaching – Disability Swimming aims to train learners to teach aquatic activities to disabled individuals and groups. This qualification is for learners who wish to work with participants who have a disability in mainstream or disability swimming lessons and help them to develop both as swimmers and individuals in the aquatic environment.Swimming has amazing benefits for everyone, and even more so for those with disabilities. If you want to help people with disabilities experience swimming in a safe environment, then this is the course for you.

Course requirements

  • You must be 16 years of age or older
  • You must hold current membership of STA
  • Hold the STA Award in Teaching Swimming or acceptable equivalent (please note the ASA Level 1 Award in Aquatic Teaching is not an acceptable pre-requisite)

Book STA Level 2 Award in Aquatic Teaching - Disability Swimming

Location Course Dates Places left  
New Barnet Leisure Centre 09/04/2024 – 11/04/2024 6 Book

What to expect from a swim teacher course

You’ll be supported from day one by our team of aquatics experts who will teach you everything you need to know to become a qualified swim teacher. You’ll increase your knowledge of practices, learn progression techniques, teaching points to structure classes, and how to apply it all in the most effective way within swim lessons. You’ll then be assessed through the completion of worksheets, schemes of work, lesson plans, lesson evaluation forms, and practical teaching assessments.

HEAR FROM OUR QUALIFIED SWIM TEACHERS

I’ve been a swim teacher for the past 20 years, 14 of those years have been working with GLL.  I love working as a swim teacher as it is so rewarding, working with children and adults. So when GLL asked me to pilot the swimbies I was really honoured to do so. Babies and preschool are one aspect of teaching I really love.Throughout my teaching years I’ve always been developing and updating qualifications. Diving, working with different disabilities and school lessons are just a few things I’ve been developed throughout my years of being a swimming teacher.- Jasmine, Swim teacher

Swimbies swimming teacher
Swimming teacher teaching a class

Having always been able to swim myself, I was first inspired to pursue a career as a swimming teacher when I signed up to take my two children to adult and child classes in my early thirties. Watching their confidence grow and both the pupils and teacher having fun in the session really motivated me to want to become a teacher myself. I have worked as a swimming teacher for over 20 years, it is an extremely rewarding career, each day is another opportunity to make a difference in a person's life. Giving pupils the confidence and capability to achieve a life skill which opens doors to experiences that could enhance or even save their life is extremely gratifying. I would recommend to anyone who is thinking about becoming a swimming teacher, go for it! - Tina, Swim teacher

Swim teacher qualification FAQ’s

How do I get in contact with someone to find out more about a course?

If you'd like to know more about the swimming teacher courses on offer, please email us or call 02037001922 for more information. 

Can you teach swimming without a qualification?

Previous experience or formal qualifications are not required to kick start your career in swim teaching. To be able to become a swimming teacher in one of our leisure centres, you will need to gain an accreditation in one of the STA swim teaching qualifications available.

What do I need to bring with me on the swim teacher course?

  • Appropriate teaching attire. Shorts, t-shirt and suitable poolside footwear (no flip-flops)
  • Swimming kit and towel. You may wish to bring two sets as you will be in and out of the water
  • Your photo ID
  • Pen and paper for taking notes throughout the classroom sessions
  • Water bottle and lunch

How much does a swimming teacher course cost?

Course

Length Cost

STA Level 2 Award in Teaching Swimming

5 day course £360

STA Level 2 Certificate in Teaching Swimming

4 day course £400

STA Award in Baby and Pre School Swimming

4 day course £350

How to do I book onto a swim teacher course?

To apply for a swimming teacher course with us, simply select ‘Book’ on the course of your interest in the table above.

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