How to schedule swim lessons: a practical timetable guide for swim schools
A good swim timetable fills every lane in your busiest hours, keeps each level’s groups small enough to teach safely, gives instructors a break, and leaves room to move swimmers up. Here’s a step-by-step way to build one, from the water you have to the week you publish.
1. Start with your water, not your wish list
Write down every pool and every lane or teaching area you can use, the hours you have them and the depth of each. If you hire pool time, use the hours you actually have. Then count your lane-slots: the number of lessons you can run in a week.
Example: 2 teaching lanes, weekdays 15:30 to 18:30 and Saturday 08:00 to 12:00, with 30-minute lessons. That’s 2 lanes × 6 slots × 5 days = 60, plus 2 × 8 = 16 on Saturday. 76 lane-slots a week is your ceiling. Every decision below shares it out.
2. Define your levels and what each needs
Each level needs a lesson length, a maximum group size, a depth and an instructor who can teach it. Group sizes and ratios should follow your national swimming or lifesaving body and your insurer. Examples include Swim England in the UK, the Lifesaving Society in Canada, AUSTSWIM in Australia and the American Red Cross in the US. The table below is an example only, to show the shape of the plan.
| Level | Lesson | Example group size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent & baby | 30 min | 6 to 8 pairs | Warm, shallow water. Mornings and weekends. |
| Beginners | 30 min | 3 to 4 | Shallow end. Your most in-demand slots. |
| Improvers | 30 min | 4 to 6 | Needs a lane with some depth. |
| Advanced / stroke | 45 min | 6 to 8 | Full-length lane. |
| Adults | 30 to 45 min | 4 to 6 | Early mornings or late evenings. |
| Squad | 60 min+ | Per lane | Often its own block at the end of the day. |
Fewer, clearer levels make scheduling easier. Every extra level is another group that has to exist at the times families can come.
3. Choose lesson length and build in changeover
30 minutes is the standard for children’s group lessons, and it lets you run two groups an hour per lane. Back-to-back lessons are efficient, but plan how swimmers get in and out. Many schools start the next group as the last one climbs out, then give instructors a proper break every two to three hours. Write the break into the timetable as an empty slot so it doesn’t get booked.
4. Build the week in blocks
- Put demand first. After school and weekend mornings fill first. Fill those slots with your most-requested levels: beginners and improvers.
- Youngest earliest. Put younger children in the earlier slots and older swimmers later.
- Run the same level side by side. If Level 2 runs at 16:30 in Lane 1, try Level 1 or Level 3 at 16:30 in Lane 2. Siblings can swim at the same time, and moving a swimmer up doesn’t mean a new day.
- Keep a growth slot. Leave one slot per busy afternoon you can open when a waiting list builds.
5. Match instructors to levels
Give each instructor a level they’re qualified and confident in, and try to keep the same instructor with the same group all term. Families notice. Check that no instructor is in two lanes at once, and that you have cover for your busiest afternoon if someone is ill.
6. Choose terms or rolling enrollment
Terms (for example 10 weeks, paid up front) make the timetable stable and cash flow predictable. Everyone starts and ends together, and moving up happens between terms. Rolling monthly enrollment fills gaps faster but makes groups change more often. Many schools mix the two: terms for children’s lessons, rolling for adults. For pricing, see how to price class packs. The same maths works for swim lessons.
7. Decide your make-up rules before you need them
Write the policy down and share it at enrollment. For example: how many make-ups per term, how much notice is needed, that make-ups go into the same level only where there is an open seat, and that unused make-ups end with the term. A clear rule turns a dozen awkward conversations into a single sentence.
8. Publish, then review after week two
Look at occupancy by slot and level. Groups that are always full point to where a new group is needed. Groups at half capacity can often be merged next term. Check which swimmers are ready to move up, and plan the next term’s groups around them.
Worked example: one weekday afternoon
| Time | Lane 1 (shallow) | Lane 2 (deeper) |
|---|---|---|
| 15:30 | Beginners A (4) | Improvers A (6) |
| 16:00 | Beginners B (4) | Improvers B (6) |
| 16:30 | Beginners C (4) | Advanced, 45 min (8) |
| 17:00 | Instructor break | (Advanced continues) |
| 17:15 | Beginners D (4) | Improvers C (6) |
| 17:45 | Adult beginners (5) | Stroke technique (6) |
| 18:15 | Growth slot | Squad until 19:15 |
One afternoon gives 11 groups and more than 50 swimmers plus the squad, with a planned break and a slot to grow into. Repeat the pattern for each weekday with your demand in mind.
Doing this in Ateliem
Add each lane as a place with its capacity, add a category for each level, and add each group once with its time, lane, instructor and level, repeating weekly to the end of term. Ateliem won’t let two groups share a lane at the same time, warns you when an instructor is double-booked or a group is over capacity, and lets instructors take the register from their phone while lesson packs count down. Read more about swim lesson scheduling in Ateliem or see everything in swim school software.
Put the timetable into Ateliem. Weekly repeats for the whole term, no double-booked lanes, and instructors take the register from their phone. 30 days free, no card.