Lifeguard

Typical Salary

£13,000 To £29,000

Typical Hours

41 to 43 variable

evenings / weekends / bank holidays on a rota

How To Become a Lifeguard

You can get into this job through:

an apprenticeship
working towards this role
training with professional bodies

College / University

Apprenticeship

You can complete a leisure team member intermediate apprenticeship to get into this role.

some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship

Routes into this Career

You may be able to work as a pool attendant or assistant, for example in a leisure centre, and take lifeguard qualifications on the job.

Other Routes

If you want to work as a pool lifeguard you'll need one of the following qualifications:

To be a beach lifeguard, you'll need to complete the National Vocational Beach Lifeguard Qualification (NVBLQ).

You can complete the qualifications by:

joining a local club as a volunteer and training with them
training with a professional body

Once you're qualified, you can also apply to work with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Skills And Knowledge

You'll need:

customer service skills
sensitivity and understanding
the ability to work well with others
patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
thinking and reasoning skills
to be thorough and pay attention to detail
to enjoy working with other people
excellent verbal communication skills
to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

Day To Day Tasks

As a pool or beach lifeguard you'll supervise swimming areas and help people in trouble. For your main tasks you will:

make sure swimmers follow safety rules
make sure people stay in safe areas
rescue swimmers in danger
give first aid

As a pool lifeguard, you’ll also:

advise swimmers on how to use diving boards and slides
check pool water temperature and chemicals
clean the pool area and set up equipment

As a beach lifeguard you’ll also:

monitor sea conditions and set up safety flags
be a point of contact for people on the beach

Working Environment

You could work at a fitness centre.

Your working environment may be humid and outdoors some of the time.

Career Path & Progression

You could become a leisure centre manager with the National Pool Management Qualification.

Some pool lifeguards get swimming teaching or coaching qualifications and give swimming lessons. You could also train and lead a team of lifeguards.

You could compete in lifeguarding competitions.

Volunteering Opportunities

Volunteering Opportunities are not listed for this job.

Tips & Information

Career tips

You may find it helpful to have a first aid qualification when applying for jobs.

Further information

You can find out more about training to be a pool or beach lifeguard from:

Restrictions & Requirements

You'll need to:

pass enhanced background checks, as you may be working with children and vulnerable adults
be able to swim

To qualify as a pool lifeguard, you'll need to:

be able to swim 50 metres in less than one minute
be able to swim 100 metres on your front and back without stopping
surface dive to the deepest part of the pool

To qualify as a beach lifeguard you must have a good level of fitness and be able to swim in the sea to take the National Vocational Beach Lifeguard Qualification. You'll also be expected to meet more standards, such as:

completion of a 400m pool swim in less than eight minutes
making a surface dive to a depth of 1.5 metres
treading water for two minutes
climbing out of deep water unaided

You'll have to demonstrate these skills as part of an assessment.