Swimming lessons - how long until no arm bands?

[Whatisgoingonheredear]

DD started swimming lessons in September. Age 5. The lessons run in line with school terms, missed a couple due to illness, so has had about 13 lessons.
They are still using floatation discs (arm bands) and woggles. I don't know if I'm expecting too much but at this point I'd expect them not to be using so many floatation aids.

The children in her group age from ages 3 - 7. Most are around 5. She is one of the more proficient swimmers and has good co ordination but naturally using floatation discs and a woggle doesn't mean she learns natural positions for her arms and so on. There are a couple of children in her group who have not really progressed since starting (one of them would probably do better with 1:1 lessons and another one is a bit scared of the pool).
DD is very confident in the water too.
So far we have spent around £200 on lessons and I can't afford to keep at it for months and months...I'm not sure if the teacher is waiting for them all to be at the same stage before reducing the use of swimming aids.
7 children to a group.

There are only two swim schools here and the one we are with is the only one who actually replies to emails. Most people teach their own children but I work opposite schedules to DH so it would be hard.

Should swimming aids be reduced by now or are my expections too much?

Posting in AIBU for traffic.

Have you also looked at swimming clubs? They quite often have lessons for beginners too.

Ours didn't use armbands at all but I don't think the time they are taken off is really a measure of progress. Do you know what the next group up looks like? See if you can find out, and find out how long children usually spend in the first class.

Ours were in lessons for several years and are only middling. It was a long term project. If we had little ones again I would not get on that bandwagon but look for private lessons instead. I think it works out a lot cheaper in the long run.

I removed my daughter from swimming lessons aged 4 in reception. When swimming with me she can move through the water for a short distance without arm bands, floats or noodles but at her lessons they have never let her swim with no aid. So always with arm band or noodle or both!
Looking at the other kids the set up seems to be timed so it's one year in each section and you wouldn't finish the scheme until year 6.

I should probably have said that at our local swimming school, the children wear arm discs (made of float material?) rather than inflatable armbands. I don’t know if that makes a difference.

Also, although DD took years to learn to swim, she did quickly learn other useful skills such as how to enter and exit the pool safely (including how to climb out of the pool over the side) and how to do star floats.

It might be worth waiting a year or two or paying for 1:1 My dc learned in a few weeks but were older, 6&8, due to house moves and medical issues. My 8 year old had to have 1:1 with instructor in the pool due to seizures (we only paid the group price thankfully) and learned within 8 weeks to swim lengths whereas the younger in group did 2 lots of 8 weeks and was only on a width, but was stroppy (too tired after school) so we rested the formal lessons and taught her ourselves then she had technique lessons as a teen

My nearly 3YO uses a noodle in his lessons sometimes but never armbands. I also don’t understand how you can have 3YOs in the same lesson with 7YOs, that’s the ages of my 2 kids and there’s such vast physical differences, stamina, body strength etc. not to mention understanding and concentration.