Royal Life Saving Society UK Worcestershire (10017744)

National Vocational Beach Lifeguard Qualification (NVBLQ)

RLSS UK has teamed up with Surf Life Saving Association (SLSA) Wales to offer the NVBLQ - a national standard for beach lifeguarding. The National Water Safety Forum and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) endorse the NVBLQ. On completion, candidates will have the skills and knowledge to protect the public at the beach.

If you’d like to learn more about being a Beach Lifeguard, click here.

The NVBLQ course requires a minimum of 40 hours of training followed by a practical assessment.

Course Pre-Requisites:

Every candidate attending a NVBLQ course must:

• Be 16-years-old or over at the time of the assessment
• Have a good level of fitness
• Surface dive to a depth of 1.5 metres
• Tread water for two minutes
• Climb out of deep water unaided and without steps
• Be competent at swimming in the sea
• Before the course, candidates must be able to swim at least 200 metres in a pool (of recommended length 25 metres, but no less than 20 metres) in five minutes or less
• For the assessment, candidates must be able to swim 400 metres in a pool (recommended 25 metres, but no less than 20 metres) in eight minutes or less using a continuous front stroke and showing urgency.

Course Content:

The course covers: all elements of beach lifeguard theory, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), first aid, pool skills and open water skills and is physically demanding and will include swimming to set times and lifting.

There are four modules, and a candidate must pass all four to attain the qualification.

Module 1 – Beach Lifeguarding – Knowledge & Understanding
Module 2 – Life Support and First Aid
Module 3 – Ocean Skills