Recreation assistant
Also known as; Leisure assistant, recreational attendant, leisure team member
The role of the recreation assistant is to support, enhance and deliver the day-to-day operations of a leisure facility.
What does a Recreation assistant do?
Recreation assistants support, enhance and deliver the day-to-day operations of a leisure facility. They typically service sport and physical activities in wet environments, such as swimming pools, water slides and saunas, and/or dry environments, such as activity areas and sports pitches.
Working as a part of a team, recreation assistants assist with the opening and closing of facilities as well as maintaining the cleanliness and safety of the environment. They ensure that programmed activities and services are available by preparing, assembling, dismantling and storing equipment such as trampolines, badminton nets and event seating. A recreation assistant is also expected to supervise activity and ancillary areas, ensuring that customers are safe and enhancing the services offered through their product knowledge and sales skills.
As a first point of contact, recreation assistants are expected to provide high levels of customer care in their delivery of this rewarding and varied role.
Skills and behaviours
The following common or transferable skills are most frequently asked for by employers in recreation assistant job adverts across the UK:
| Skills and behaviours | % Prevalence in job ads |
|---|---|
| Customer Service | 84% |
| Operations | 23% |
| Cleanliness | 19% |
| First Aid | 14% |
| Communication | 13% |
| Swimming | 12% |
| Organisational Skills | 10% |
| Management | 10% |
| English Language | 9% |
| Mathematics | 8% |
To find out more about the minimum knowledge, skills and behaviours an individual must understand and demonstrate to become a recreation assistant, you can visit our occupational professional standards library.
How to become a Recreation assistant
There are several ways you can become qualified as a recreation assistant. Look at the options below to explore what option works best for you.
Complete a qualification with a training provider
You do not need to hold a qualification to become a recreation assistant. However, there are qualifications and continuous professional development (CPD) courses that you can choose to complete to excel in your role such as the Level 2 Diploma in Sports Industry Skills (Sport and Active Leisure Recreation Assistant).
You can browse all of the CIMSPA-endorsed recreation assistant qualifications and CPD delivered by our Training Provider Partners in our Endorsed Training Directory.
Apprenticeship
The Leisure Team Member apprenticeship allows you to train as a recreation assistant. This apprenticeship also offers options to qualify as a gym instructor, swimming teacher, pool lifeguard and first aider alongside the recreation assistant role.
You can find out more about completing a Leisure Team Member apprenticeship in via The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) website.
Professional Standards
CIMSPA is the guardian of a single professional and apprenticeship standards framework for the sport and physical activity sector – outlining the minimum knowledge, skills and behaviours an individual must understand and demonstrate for every occupation and job role in the sector.
This standards framework is driving the development of quality education products for our workforce and supporting employers in assessing which job roles an individual is qualified for.
Recreation assistant Courses and qualifications
Pearson BTEC Level 2 Technical Occupational Entry for Recreation Assistants (Diploma) (610/4253/5)
Pearson BTEC Level 2 Diploma in Sports Industry Skills (Sport and Active Leisure Recreation Assistant) (603/6137/2)
What's the best role for you?
Career paths and progression
Career pathways
Side Steps
Next Steps
Aspirational Steps
Career progression
As well as exploring new career pathways, as a recreation assistant you can also choose to progress your career by completing further training or continued professional development (CPD) in your role.
Continuing Professional Development
Pearson BTEC Level 2 Technical Occupational Entry for Recreation Assistants (Diploma) (610/4253/5)
Pearson BTEC Level 2 Diploma in Sports Industry Skills (Sport and Active Leisure Recreation Assistant) (603/6137/2)
Find a job as a Recreation assistant
The content of the job posts displayed on the CIMSPA jobs board are pulled in through feeds from websites which are not under the control of CIMSPA.
CIMSPA will not be liable for any false, inaccurate, inappropriate or incomplete information presented on the jobs board.