RLSS Awards We Offer

This Award sets out a national standard for water safety and has been designed as a standalone award from our other water safety programmes and provides a gateway for participants go on to complete further awards to develop skills and knowledge to keep themselves and others safe whilst enjoying the water.

The Water Smart Award has been developed in line with the National Curriculum Swimming outcomes and supports the development of essential skills, safety awareness and competence around water

The award focuses on five main areas Water Safety Awareness, getting in and Out of the water safely, Safely Staying Afloat, safely moving in the water, and Performing Basic Rescues Safely

This programme is aimed at younger members aged 7 to 12 (Key Stage 2) and part of the Swim England and Swim Ireland Learn to Swim Programme. The Rookie Lifeguard programme fulfils all the Key Stage 2 water safety elements of the National Curriculum. The course can run parallel to your child’s current swimming lessons and will enhance the skills they learn in the pool.

For many of our Rookie Lifeguards, the programme offers the first opportunity to explore water safety, gradually gaining independence and confidence while learning vital life skills giving children the skills, they need to be confident in and around water, and the knowledge to keep themselves, their friends, and their family safe in the water weather that be the pool or the sea.

The scheme begins with Stage 1 of the Bronze Award and progresses to Stage 3 of the Gold Award, starting off at an ability level suitable for brand-new swimmers and progressing to the level where our Rookie Lifeguards perform impressive lifesaving tows.

This programme is aimed at members aged 12 and over (Key Stages 3,4 and 5)

The awards are challenging but fun to complete and are arranged into Bronze, Silver and Gold levels to ensure that participants get the opportunity to develop their lifesaving skills as they progress through the awards.

For each of the Bronze, Silver and Gold levels there are four award areas to experience, the Medallion Awards, the Beach Awards, the Stillwater Awards and the Sport Awards. Members are able to choose to specialise in one area or learn a broader range of skills by completing multiple awards.

The National Lifesaving Academy awards will be replacing the Survive & Save programme and is aimed at members aged 12 and over (Key Stages 3,4 and 5) 

The awards are a collection of progressive awards that teach personal survival, first aid, CPR, rescue, and fitness skills. Their aim is to teach candidates how to stay safe around water and how to safely assist others who may have gotten into difficulty in both aquatic and non-aquatic situations.

The awards are structured to teach foundational skills and then progressively build up the candidate’s skills. On achieving the Bronze Medallion level of award, the candidate receives Recognition of Prior Learning hours towards the RLSS UK vocational lifeguard qualifications.

The awards are structured into three levels Bronze Lifesaving Certificate, Bronze Star, and Bronze Medallion.

The Bronze Lifesaving Certificate is designed to teach new lifesavers the basics of staying safe in or around water. It provides the candidate with basic water safety knowledge, basic aquatic lifesaving skills, basic CPR, and basic First Aid.

For each of the Bronze Star and Bronze Medallion levels there are three award areas available to our members. Pool (completed in the swimming pool), Open Water (completed preferably in non-tidal, inland open water sites) and Beach (completed on the coast).

The Life Support award covers the basics of how to perform CPR, including the diagnosis and treatment for choking, bleeding, and shock on an adult casualty.

The Life Support 3 award covers the basics of how to perform CPR, including the diagnosis and treatment for choking, bleeding and shock on an infant, child, and adult casualty.