Anyone a swimming teacher, and can advise on qualifications?

[TOWGA]

I want to be a swimming teacher.

Two different awarding qualifications. STA or swim England.

Some people have told me swim England and others STA!

what is the better one to do? Chat

I'm not a swim teacher but think the qualifications are interchangeable. Have a look at your area and see which swim curriculums are used most commonly.

Hello.
I am.
basically you can do either

swim England level 1 makes you an assistant and 2 means you are a full teacher.
sta means the 1 you can teach on your own to a stage 5, the level 2 means you can do all.

any other questions let me know. I’m swim England x

Thank you both!
@Sjh15would you say swim England is better? Most around my area are STA, but swim England do exist but the courses are very few.

Swim England Level 2 teacher here 👋 I opted for SE as there are a few swim schools who only accept SE and not STA. With SE the level 1 qualification only allows you to assist with lessons and not teach, so you need to do the level 2 also. However, they offer combined level 1 and 2 courses now. With STA you go straight in with the Award course, which allows you to teach lower level lessons (I know a lot of teachers who have only done this course and are quite happy with that). You can then progress onto the Certificate course which is more in depth and allows you to teach the higher ability levels. You will also need either STA safety award or RLSS NRASTC, plus SE and STA both offer parent and child qualifications to teach baby lessons. There is a national shortage of swimming teachers, so you may find some swim schools can offer to fund your training in exchange for you teaching exclusively for them. It’s a wonderful job, best of luck!

Thank you all! I still unsure what to do, the next STA course is in September and the next swim England which is only level 1 is in November here! I don’t want to get stuck out of jobs for having the wrong qualification.

I would find a leisure centre you think you’ll work at and ask what one they accept.

all the ones I know of will accept both, but up until recently the STA wasn’t accepted in some places, I don’t know why!!

Thanks all, I think the issue is one swim school has advised sta and one swim England, could I do both or is that silly?

Swim school owner & STA tutor here...

I accept either BUT....
The STA Award allows you to teach/be responsible for your own classes immediately once qualified and they tend to be more widely available. Yes, as others have said the award allows you to teach to a lower swimming ability level, but you can do this, teach and gain experience before doing the STA certificate which allows you to teach all abilities.
The STA baby & Preschool qualification is far superior to the Swim England one (IMO)

As also mentioned, you will also need some form of lifesaving qualification as well (STA safety award, or NRSTAC or lifeguard) & a safeguarding qualification.

Thank you all.