Swimming: at roughly what age do children reach Stage 7 Swim for England

[Criteria16]

Genuinely curious (and slightly obsessed with planning ahead!), but what should I expect as average?
My DS is 5 and Stage 1, strong swimmer.
What age were your children when they reached level 7?

It's all completely dependent on the child. DD who turned 6 last month has just started stage 5. She should therefore have passed stage 7 well before your son but who knows how long it will actually take either of them. We just take it as it comes and she reaches the end of stage 7 when she does.

Coordinated, athletic kids progress quickly, my kids took a long time! You don't really see anyone in lessons after primary age generally. Either they have moved on to club swimming or they just stop going.

I'm not a fan of the stages. Learning butterfly is a waste of time for 99% of kids. Just teach them to confidently swim a few lengths in a decent stroke. Mine have passed bronze but still can't can't swim without putting their head under for each stroke.

Goes up to 10 here but from 8 upwards seem to focus on diving and fun things like water polo skills from memory.

This is the bane of my life. My 8yo is club swimming and has been doing multiple lengths with excellent technique for a good few years. I’ve kept her leisure centre class going for a bit of extra practice and to cover the lifesaving stuff that the club swimming doesn’t really touch. She still hasn’t passed stage 6. It’s all getting ridiculous as I’m sure the company are deliberately keeping kids in stages for too long. I’ll pull her out at some point and just do the club swimming so there is a good chance she’ll never hit stage 7.

The stages are most definitely not the same at different pools.

My DS was 9. It took him about 5 years including lockdowns.

@Monvelo - yes. They have stage 8-10 and then also bronze silver gold rookie lifeguards
This is what they learn in stage 8 at our place. Stage 9 is 800 meters and stage 10 is 1500m (I think)

By the end of primary school but really depends on the child. My DD was 10, my ds is still in stage 5 at that age.