Understanding how the four competencies fit into the Learn to Swim Programme

The Swim England Learn to Swim Programme is about developing confident and competent swimmers, the Learn to Swim Stages 4-7 form the second part of this core programme, and each of these stages contain a water competency outcome.

Swim England’s minimum water competency standards give parents and guardians a clear set of skills that children should achieve before a child stops swimming lessons.

The four competencies are:

• Perform a star float for at least 60 seconds = Learn to Swim Stage 4

“Floating is an integral part of learning how to swim. It’s one of our core aquatic skills and it should be one of your main focuses when teaching people how to swim.” David Rayner

• Tread water for at least 30 seconds = Learn to Swim Stage 5

“Treading water is an essential skill for children to learn as it will aid self-rescue.  It will allow them to keep their head out of the water while staying upright.” Rebecca Lowe

• Experience of swimming in clothing = Learn to Swim Stage 6

“This is important to ensure all children experience that feeling of being weighed down in the water, of how the clothes make them feel very heavy inside that water environment.” Sam Helliwell

• Swim at least 100 metres with ease and without stopping = Learn to Swim Stage 7

“When you’re assessing the swimmers we like you to be able to see that they’re as strong at the end of their swim as they are at the start.” David Rayner

The Learn to Swim Awards for Stages 4,5,6 and 7 you purchase later this year will display the competency achieved at each stage.

We are embedding these competencies into everything we do, including the My Learn to Swim App and the Learn to Swim Awards Stages 4-7, to highlight their importance to parents and guardians.

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📧 If you have any questions contact the [email protected]