Swimming lesson confusion WWYD?

[Lollipop30]

So basically my daughter has just been given the same certificate for third time, am I wasting my money completely?!

She started at private lessons and got her Stage 2 and 5m before they lost use of the pool and we had to find lessons elsewhere.

She then went to council lessons that are dictated by age and was put in their Stage2 until she reached an age that they’d move her up. She had yet again got Stage2 and by then 25m before we moved and had to change lessons yet again.

The move, new people, new school etc knocked her confidence and she became quite shy apart from in the water. when we put her in swimming lessons at the new place they wanted to put her in Stage 2 again. Tbh I did insist on then having another assessment and said she’d achieved that level twice now and I’d rather just take her myself if she was going to have to go through it all again! I watched the assessment along with another teacher and DD did it all easily (unsurprisingly as she’d been doing it for ages by now), they agreed and put her in Stage3.

Great, so for the past year I thought she’d been working on building her skills etc. It’s very important to me that they can swim well due to personal experience and events within my own family.

Been to lessons today, they congratulated DD on achieving Stage2 AGAIN!!! So we now have 3 of the bloody badges. Luckily she still loves it but she’s blatantly getting bored and I don’t want it spoiled for her as she really is in her element in the water.
Also what the hell have I been paying for for the past year!!!!!
WWYD?

Sorry it’s an essay but anyone?

I think each swim School and/or teachers measure the children differently. One might pass a child for stage 2 but another think they need more practice. It’s down to interpretation.
You say she’s been in the most recent class for the past year. That’s a long time so maybe they gave a certificate- any certificate - to act as motivation. But they didn’t feel she was ready for stage 3.
I’m sure you’ve not been wasting your money and I’d try not to worry if she loves it

Has she been improving in confidence and technique? If she's been learning and progressing I'd be happy.

The different swim schools are so so different in what they expect. Locally private ones seem to bump them up levels quickly (to show progress?) in small pools where they aren't doing proper lengths.

My girls are both in different leisure centres and so so different. Both doing really well and Im happy but one school has stage 5 still doing widths (but progressing in strokes) the other starts them swimming half lengths and odd length in deep.water at stage 4!!! So stage 6 vs stage 4 for deep water/lengths.

Also one does distance badges when you've travelled that distance

Other doesn't really do them until you're proficient at that stage. So their stage 6 class includes a 100m warm up at the beginning of the lesson... yet they only have 50m badge..

Another one does distance days and you just swim as far as you can and get a badge for it!