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Swimming teacher

Swimming teachers help people learn how to swim, improve their swimming skills and to exercise in water.

Annual Salary

£15,500 to £28,000

Working hours

36 to 38 variable

You could work: evenings / weekends / bank holidays; as customers demand

0.5%
Future employment

There will be 0.5% more Swimming teacher jobs in 2027.
In your local area

What's it all about?

What you'll do

Day-to-day tasks

During your day-to-day duties, you could:

  • teach or coach one-to-one or in groups
  • plan and deliver sessions
  • demonstrate correct swimming techniques
  • identify ways to improve performance
  • make sure safety standards are followed
  • check life-saving equipment is in working order
  • organise and supervise assistants and helpers
  • provide first aid for minor injuries or accidents

Working environment

You may need to wear a uniform.

You could work at a fitness centre or at a school.

Your working environment may be physically demanding and humid.

Entry requirements

You can get into this job through:

  • an apprenticeship
  • training with a professional body
Apprenticeship

You can complete a leisure team member intermediate apprenticeship.

As part of this apprenticeship you will be able to gain one of the following qualifications:Swim England Level 2 in Teaching Swimming; Swimming Teacher Association (STA) Level 2 Certificate in Teaching Swimming

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
For more information
Other routes

You can qualify as a swimming teacher by doing Level 1 and Level 2 teaching qualifications awarded by Swim England or the Swimming Teachers' Association (STA).

These qualifications will allow you to teach non-swimmers, improvers and people looking to learn advanced swimming skills.

You may be able to train on the job and become qualified while you work. This would depend on your employer.

Courses are generally delivered flexibly so you can fit them around other commitments you may have.

Requirements and restrictions

You'll need to:

More information

Further information

You can find out more about teaching swimming from Swim England and the Swimming Teachers' Association.

Employment by region

Career path and progression

With experience, you could be a swim co-ordinator or lead swimming teacher, checking the quality of swimming teachers.

You could work as the head coach of a sports club, or senior coach with a regional or national team.

You could also move into elite sports coaching, sports development or youth work.

Other useful information

You can find out more about teaching swimming from Swim England and the Swimming Teachers' Association.

Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

  • leadership skills
  • knowledge of teaching and the ability to design courses
  • customer service skills
  • the ability to create the best conditions for learning or teaching new things
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • the ability to monitor your own performance and that of your colleagues
  • the ability to work on your own
  • the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
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