Increasing Swimming Lesson Rates: When, By How Much, and How to Announce It [2026]

A rate that stays the same for years costs you margin

Almost every swimming school operates with an amount that once made sense. Back then, pool rental was lower, the energy bill was not a topic of discussion, and an hour of instruction cost less. Since then, much has changed, except the amount on your own price list.

Raising rates feels uncomfortable because you know parents will react. Postponing is the more expensive choice: you either compromise on quality or work harder for the same money. The sequence that works is simple. First calculate, then choose the percentage, then announce it, and finally implement it in the systems you use.

What happens to your costs while your rate stays the same

Pool rental and energy costs change every year

Municipalities almost automatically increase rental rates for indoor sports facilities in line with inflation. Between 2024 and 2025, this was between 2.8 and 3.4 percent, according to the rental rate monitor from the Mulier Institute. Energy is the cost item that can fluctuate the most: swimming pools offset increased energy costs with a municipal contribution or with higher rates for users.

The number of pools is shrinking at the same time. The Netherlands had 621 public pools in 2024, 39 fewer than in 2013, according to research by the Mulier Institute. Fewer pools means more demand for the remaining hours, and thus less flexibility in your schedule when an hour becomes more expensive.

Inflation is your lower limit, not your upper limit

The consumer price index from CBS rose by 3.3 percent in August 2026 compared to a year earlier, after months between 2.4 and 3.5 percent. That figure is useful as a lower limit. Wages, pool rental, and insurance in the swimming sector often rise faster than the average price of a shopping basket.

Waiting a year costs more than the increase itself

Compare your old rate with what your costs are doing this year, and the cost of postponing becomes clear. Every month you do not adjust, the difference eats into your own margin. Those who wait two or three years must then make a big jump all at once, and that exact jump is what scares parents. The table below shows how big that effect is for a group of eighty students and four lessons per month.

Step 1: Recalculate your own cost price

Start with your own numbers, not the school around the corner

Add up your costs per hour: pool rental, wages or payments to instructors, insurance, certificates, and materials. Divide that by the number of students you can accommodate in that hour, and you have your cost price per student. Anything below that, you cover yourself. If you base your rate on the neighboring school, you also take over their costs and mistakes.

What an increase yields with eighty students

The table calculates with the median per 45-minute lesson from our own cost overview of 547 providers, four lessons per month, and a school with eighty students. Note the last column: it shows the difference between a school that adjusts annually and one that remains unchanged for five years.

For parents, that is a few euros per month. For you, it determines whether you can hire an extra instructor or rent a second pool slot.

Choose one fixed moment per year

Price increases are easier to accept at the start of a new year, a new quarter, or a new contract period. Choose that moment and stick to it every year, for example January or the start of your season after the summer holidays. Include in your general terms and conditions that you adjust the rate at that moment according to inflation, so you never have to defend that principle again. A vague clause like "subject to price changes" is too general and does not hold up.

Step 2: Choose the percentage

What is common in sports

Among sports providers who raised their fees, the increase was usually between 5 and 10 percent. This was shown in research by Kantar commissioned by NOC*NSF, which NOS reported on. In the same research, about one fifth of athletes who experienced a price increase said they exercised less or stopped. That is the group to consider when preparing your announcement.

Small steps or one big jump

If you have not adjusted for years, one big jump is tempting but rarely wise. Parents get used to a small step faster, and a small increase already has a big effect on your results: a one percent price increase at equal costs yields about eleven percent more profitability, according to a McKinsey calculation cited by De Zaak. So first follow inflation, then see if you can ask more for extras like smaller groups, extra pool time, or private lessons.

What you offer in return

Parents accept an increase more easily if they see what improves. It does not have to be a new attraction. An extra instructor in the water, shorter waiting times when changing, or the progress parents see weekly in the app is enough. Those who only mention the amount get asked where the money goes. Those who provide the answer themselves do not get that question.

Step 3: What you may agree with parents

Ongoing subscriptions: here is the limit

Most parents have an ongoing agreement with your school. For that group, you cannot just increase rates mid-term. According to ConsuWijzer from ACM, this is only allowed if three conditions are met: it was included in your terms when the agreement was made, the increase is not unreasonable (an increase within three months after signing is almost always unreasonable), and you inform parents in advance about the new price and its effective date. If one of these three is not met, the parent may remain at the old price.

Single lessons, cards, and packages

For single lessons and packages paid per card or certificate, the price of that package remains fixed. The new price applies to new packages. State this explicitly in your announcement, as that is exactly the question parents ask when they finish their card halfway through the course.

Include it in your terms before you need it

A clause about annual indexation only works if parents could view those terms before signing up. Therefore, place the rule on your pricing page, in your general terms and conditions, and in the confirmation of registration. If you process payments via packages in an app, the terms link should be visible before a parent pays.

Step 4: Announce it in a way that sticks

Eight weeks in advance, with amount and start date

In advisory practice, two to three months in advance is a rule of thumb, and eight weeks is perfectly doable for a swimming school. One message with the old amount, the new amount, the start date, and the reason works better than a series of separate messages. KVK summarizes the approach: communicate on time, approach regular customers personally, and do not apologize for a decision you have thought through.

Explain where the money goes

Pool rental, energy, and wages are the items parents recognize. Mention one with a concrete example, such as the rent increase of your facility or the extra instructor you hired. You do not have to account for your margin. You do prevent the feeling that the amount was chosen arbitrarily.

One channel where parents can find it back

Messages about money do not belong in a group chat where they get lost among photos and questions about swimwear. Place your announcement in the channel your school already uses for cancellations and progress, and keep a paper or email version for parents who do not use the app. Why informal channels get clogged quickly is explained in our article about WhatsApp chaos in swimming lesson parent communication.

Step 5: Implement the change behind the scenes

Give existing students a transition period

You can let existing students continue at the old rate for a few months while new registrations pay the new price immediately. This costs you short-term revenue but provides peace in the group, which is often more valuable for small schools with long waiting lists.

Schedule a price change with start date and exceptions

In Swimmigo, you set up a planned price change with a start date, with the option to apply it to everyone or only new registrations, and with exceptions per student. You can send the announcement immediately: parents concerned receive a notification, others hear nothing. This saves you an evening of typing and prevents errors where one student keeps paying the old amount for months.

Payments, invoices, and reminders continue

If your school enables payments in the app, parents pay via iDEAL, credit card, or PayPal, and the money goes directly to your own account. Swimmigo charges a fixed percentage per payment, including all costs, separate from the subscription you choose for the app. Parents keep a free account, even if you do not enable payments.

What to say if a parent calls

Prepare three answers: what changes, from when, and what options exist if it is inconvenient. Refer families with limited means to spread payments or to the Youth Fund for Sport & Culture, which reimburses lesson fees in many municipalities. The last thing you want is for a parent to feel there is no room for discussion.

Step 6: Measure the effect of the increase

Cancellations and occupancy in the first eight weeks

In the NOC*NSF study, about one fifth of athletes exercised less or stopped. For swimming lessons, it is different because parents have more patience than with a subscription they only enjoy. Still, it pays to track cancellations and occupancy per group in the first eight weeks. If one group declines while the rest continues, the cause is more likely the timing or a change of instructor than the amount.

When you can take a second step

If your occupancy remains stable and new registrations come in, there is room for another adjustment. If your waiting list is empty or a group remains half full, focus first on flow and group size. Where that room is, is explained in the overview about more students from the same pool hours. And if you still need to start calculating: how to determine a rate that is correct and how to prevent arrears on lesson fees are explained separately.

This is not only happening in the Netherlands

Pools are under pressure everywhere

In the United Kingdom, Swim England warned that over a hundred pools threatened closure or reduction of services due to the energy bill. The World Health Organization counts swimming lessons for children among the most cost-effective measures to reduce drowning and estimates about 300,000 drowning deaths worldwide annually. In every country, the question arises how a pool is paid for and what a lesson may cost.

What that means for your price

Parents compare schools in their own city, so your rate mainly depends on your own costs. Where the world becomes smaller is in communication. More and more families speak a different language at home than the language used at the pool. Swimmigo works in five languages and notifications are translated at the moment someone reads them, so a price change reaches every parent in understandable language.

Conclusion

Put adjusting your rate on your calendar as a fixed maintenance moment. Recalculate your cost price, choose a percentage that keeps up with your costs, announce it eight weeks in advance with amount and start date, and set the change in your packages so no one forgets it. Record the agreements about indexation in your terms, give existing students a transition period if necessary, and monitor your cancellations in the weeks after. This way, your rate goes up without parents feeling something is taken away from them.

Sources

• Mulier Institute: Increase in indoor sports rental rates comparable to inflation, 21 September 2026
• Mulier Institute: Rising energy costs impact swimming pool operations, 28 February 2024
• Mulier Institute: Number of public pools in the Netherlands declined since 2013, 15 December 2025
• CBS: Inflation rises to 3.3 percent in August, 8 September 2026
• NOS: Rising prices affect athletes, 5 November 2022
• ACM ConsuWijzer: Price increases of subscriptions, consulted 12 October 2026
• KVK: Increasing your hourly rate, updated 9 October 2025
• De Zaak: Higher costs, can I raise my prices?, updated 23 February 2026
• Business.gov.nl: Use a price index to adjust your prices, consulted 12 October 2026
• Swim England: Growing energy crisis puts more than 100 pools under threat, 3 November 2022
• World Health Organization: Drowning, factsheet 2026