Terms and conditions for a swim school

A swim school lives or dies on two things: getting paid for a full term of lessons whether or not the child attends, and being able to move or cancel a lesson when the pool is shut. Most swim school terms deal properly with neither. I draft customer terms built around termly or rolling enrolment, missed sessions, health declarations and poolside supervision, for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Swim schools teaching in hired school, hotel, leisure centre or private pools, baby and pre-school programmes, adult learn-to-swim providers and one-to-one coaches in England and Wales. Almost all of your customers are parents and adult learners buying as consumers, so consumer law governs the terms. Some of you also contract with schools, nurseries and leisure trusts, which is a different set of rules again.

What matters in swim school terms

Termly enrolment, rolling payments and leaving

Whether you sell a term of lessons in advance or take a monthly payment that rolls until cancelled, the terms have to say precisely when a place is booked, what the payment buys, what notice a parent gives to leave and what happens to a place held over a school holiday. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a term that lets you keep prepaid fees with no matching obligation on you, or vary the price or timetable at will, sits on the grey list of terms likely to be unfair. Further subscription rules are coming under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, so rolling enrolment wording needs to be written with that in view.

Missed lessons, illness and catch-up sessions

This is the argument you will have most often. A child has an ear infection, misses three weeks of a term and the parent wants the money back. Your terms should state the position plainly: the fee buys a reserved place in a class of a stated size, not a guarantee of attendance, and any catch-up or credit you offer is a concession with its own conditions on notice and availability. Set out any charge for a missed session carefully, because under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a default charge out of proportion to your actual loss is open to challenge.

When the pool is not available

Very few swim schools own the water. A plant failure, a fouling incident, a failed water test, a school closing the pool for exams or a hirer taking the slot back all stop your lessons through no fault of yours. The terms need a clear provision on cancelled sessions: when you will reschedule, when you will credit the next term, and when a proportionate refund is due. A term that simply says you keep the money for a lesson you never delivered will not hold against a consumer, so the answer is a fair credit and rescheduling mechanism rather than a blanket exclusion.

Safety, supervision and health declarations

Your terms should require a health declaration covering epilepsy, heart conditions, grommets, recent illness and additional needs, and make clear that a parent who withholds information may find the child cannot be taught safely. Set out who supervises siblings on poolside, that an adult must remain in the building throughout, the rule on adults in the water for baby classes, changing room and photography policy, and what happens on late collection. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 you cannot exclude liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, and no consent form changes that, so the terms allocate responsibility for supervision instead of pretending to sign it away.

Booking online and the fourteen-day cancellation right

If a parent enrols through your website, by phone or by email, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 give them fourteen days to cancel, running from the date of the contract. Lessons can be delivered inside that period only at the parent's express request, and if they then cancel they pay a proportionate amount for what they have had. Where the cancellation information was never given, the period can extend by up to twelve months. Your booking flow, confirmation email and terms all have to say the same thing, which is where most swim schools come unstuck.

Lessons sold to schools, nurseries and leisure trusts

Curriculum swimming and nursery contracts are business to business and should be priced and papered differently: invoicing terms, minimum numbers, cancellation of a block for a school trip or inset day, staff ratios, DBS and safeguarding assurances, and who supervises on poolside. Late payment interest and fixed compensation are available under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. Bear in mind that when a school moves its swimming provision from one provider to another, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 can carry the teachers assigned to that contract across with it.

What it costs

Customer or supplier terms and conditions, £995. One set of terms, customer-facing or supplier-facing, drafted around your business. Five working days.

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want to know how much of a problem they are. Returned marked up with my amendments and an explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the terms and conditions drafting page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A full set of terms drafted around your business, not a template with your name inserted
• A covering note in plain English explaining every commercial choice I made and why, so you can defend the terms in a negotiation without ringing me
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions set at a level that will survive a procurement review
• Consumer-facing wording drafted to be enforceable where you sell to consumers
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly, which is where most businesses actually fail
• One round of amendments after you have read them

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers
• Sector-specific regulatory compliance beyond the contract terms themselves
• Website privacy notice and cookie compliance, which I quote separately
• Terms governed by the law of another country

Questions I am often asked

Can I charge for the whole term up front?

Charging a term in advance is normal and defensible, provided the terms explain what the fee reserves, publish the dates covered, and give a fair answer where you cancel sessions or a family leaves for a genuine reason such as relocation. Advertised prices must include any compulsory badge, certificate or membership charge under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.

Can I remove a child from a class?

You can, and the terms should say when: behaviour that puts other swimmers at risk, a health condition you cannot safely accommodate with the staff you have, unpaid fees, or abuse of your teachers by a parent. Write in a warning stage first, a right to withdraw the place, and what happens to fees already paid for lessons not yet delivered.

A parent says their child should have moved up a stage. Where do I stand?

Progression is a professional judgment and the terms should record it as one, made by your teachers against your stage criteria rather than by parental request. Information you give parents about outcomes is binding under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, so avoid promising that a child will swim a set distance by the end of a term.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595
• Terms and conditions for a yoga or pilates studio
• Terms and conditions for a personal trainer

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.