British Swim School of Embassy Suites Burlingame

We’re so glad to have found British Swim! Both my girls (age 6 and 8) went to other swim schools pre pandemic and forgot everything they had learned. I like that British Swim’s aproach and is prioritizing basic survival skills. Both of my girls are were comfortable to swim independently when we’re at a pool after only 2 lessons! Most of all I love how flexible they are with absences/makeups and that they are are various locations, which makes it easy for scheduling with their other activities.

My two kids are enrolled in British Swim School. Before joining, I researched other places who seemed to prioritize learning strokes instead of British Swim School who prioritizes water safety which is more important to my family. Another reason we signed up is their very flexible makeup policy which allows us to cancel a class for any reason and make it up at any nearby location within 2 months. To top it off, a couple friends highly recommended them. I’ve been very happy with our experience. The staff and teachers are friendly and patient. Shout out to Heidi, Sara, and Ethan! I’ve also enjoyed seeing the kids progress by having tangible skills to check off their list and graduate to the next level. Thanks British Swim School!

This review applies to most British Swim School classes. We have explored several sites. What I like is the curriculum. It is well thought through and each level is building up on a previous level. However, I give this an overall 2 star rating because the classes themselves need a lot of improvements: 1) each class is 30 minutes with 4 kids. At the end there is 5 minutes playtime. Plus there are several minutes in the beginning needed for a “hello” and high fives. Each kid spends a maximum of 5 minutes in the water!!! Think of your payments not for 30 minutes, but for 5 minutes! 2) several teachers spend a lot of time on more talking and more high fiving, which means you are loosing additional minutes from the 5 minutes you got. 3) the quality of teachers varies a lot. You got some that are able to explain and show everything very clearly and efficiently while you got others that are really slow and unclear. That applies to all sites: it’s a hit or miss with the teachers. 4) while the curriculum is well thought through, the majority of classes start with the same basics. Our child needs to learn side breathing to finish this level (red turtle). Instead of spending the 5 minutes on side breathing they start with see star and other basics. If you’re lucky you might have one round with side breathing. Which means you have to pay many, many lessons just to get the last task accomplished. Today was a really bad combination of the above: teacher is inexperienced. Wastes a lot of time with greeting/talking. Doesn’t explain clearly what the kids should do. And what they do is basics. Suggestions: a) class should be 45 minutes, b) teachers should have way more experience, and c) the class should focus on individual skills!

My son has been loving their swim classes and he looks forward to it every week! The instructors and managers are incredible especially Josh and Sarah. He is thriving and we’re so happy with his progress.

British Swim School is one of the highlights of the week for my kids. They love earning new swim caps. The instructors and leaders at the peninsula locations have been very friendly and helpful to work with, and we love the flexibility of switching between multiple locations.