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Swimming teacher

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

Annual Salary

£18,000 to £30,000

Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)

Working hours

18 to 37 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.

Day to day tasks

As a swimming teacher, you'll:

  • plan lessons for beginners, improvers and advanced swimmers
  • teach or coach one-to-one or in groups
  • make sure safety standards are followed
  • check life-saving equipment is in working order
  • identify ways to improve swimmers' performance
  • give 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.

You can get into this job through:

  • an apprenticeship
  • training with a professional body
Apprenticeship

You can get into this job by doing a Leisure Team Member Level 2 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 Teachers' Association 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
  • equivalent entry requirements|https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels
  • guide to apprenticeships|https://www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide
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 often flexible so you can fit them around other commitments you may have.

Requirements and restrictions

You'll need to:

More information

Career tips

Swimming teachers often work part time and are paid by the hour. Rates can vary between £14 and £22 an hour.

Further information

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

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

With further training, you could widen your skills to work with:babies and pre-schoolers; people with disabilities; open water swimmers

You could work as the head coach of a swimming club, or senior coach with a regional or national team. You might also wish to move into elite sports coaching, sports development or fitness training.

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

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Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

You'll need:

  • 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
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
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