Costs
Exam Dates and Booking
How it Works
What’s included
FAQ
Costs
Our bespoke practice exams cost £55. You may use our booking system, or pay us direct in cash, bank transfer or childcare vouchers. We are now taking bookings for 2026. Please visit this page for more information about our 2026 mock exams.
Exam Dates and Booking
Introductory Practice Exam
Trafford Consortium
Trafford Consortium Collaboration with Step Up Tuition
Catholic Grammars
Small Room Exams
Introductory Practice Exam
Location: Hartford Community Centre, Davyhulme Park, Canterbury Road, Urmston, M41 0RX
Book now for 29th March – 10 AM
Trafford Consortium
Location: The Venue, 15 Westbourne Rd, Urmston, Manchester M41 0XQ
Book now for 26th April – 9.30 AM
Book now for 17th May – 9.30 AM
Book now for 21st June – 9.30 AM
Book now for 19th July – 9.30 AM
Book now for 16th August – 9.30 AM
Book now for 6th September – TAKE AWAY AND MARK – 9.30 AM
Collaboration with Step Up Tuition
Location:
These exams will run in collaboration with Step Up Tuition, and will take place at Step Up Tuition, 61 Brook Lane, Timperley, WA15 6RZ. To book these exams, please click the link below or call Jane Ford at Step Up Tuition on 0161 928 2111.
Book now for 14th June – 9.30 AM – TRAFFORD CONSORTIUM
Book now for 2nd August – 9.30 AM – LORETO/ ST AMBROSE
Book now for 12th July – 9.30 AM – TRAFFORD CONSORTIUM
Catholic Grammars – Loreto/ St Ambrose
Book now for 5th July – 10 AM at Hartford Community Centre, Davyhulme Park, Canterbury Road, Urmston, M41 0RX
Book now for 30th August – 9.30 AM at The Venue, 15 Westbourne Rd, Urmston, Manchester M41 0XQ
Small Room Exams
These will take place at Better Tuition and are suitable for all students, particularly those who will be placed in a small room for the real exam in September. We will be using papers from previous exams at The Venue, so please ensure your child will not already have encountered the papers. We can accommodate extra time but please make us aware of this requirement well in advance of the lesson.
Our small room exam dates will be announced in the near future.
How it works
- Your child sits the exam in our formal setting (please see Exam Dates and Booking for details of our venues) ;
- Your child will take their question paper home. We will keep their answer booklet for marking;
- We mark the papers and you will receive scores (via WhatsApp) within 48 hours [NOT SEPTEMBER – see below];
- We will post your child’s answer booklet to you by first class post within 72 hours;
- We will post average scores and estimated likelihood of passing on our website (we will provide you with a password for this);
- Your child will have full access to our video tutorials. These are recorded mini-lessons which take your child through every question in the exam and provide the ideal opportunity to tackle corrections and weak areas.
- In September only, due to the imminence of the exam, the children will bring their exam papers home, together with the answers, and parents will mark them. This ensures immediate feedback so that you can begin work on any weak areas straight away.
What’s Included
- Professionally designed exam papers, written by experienced educators and examiners;
- Special attention to replicating the style of questions used in the GL Assessment Trafford 11+ exam.
- Formal, REALISTIC exam conditions, which closely mirror the official grammar school entrance exam experience;
- Video tutorials, which take your child through EVERY question. Tell me more about your video tutorials.
- Average scores and range, together with estimated likelihood of passing.
- Your child’s exam papers and answer booklets returned to you.
- Tell me more about the benefits of sitting a Better Tuition practice entrance exam.
FAQ
Which format? GL-Style or Catholic Grammar-Style?
Will you return my child’s exam paper?
When will I receive my child’s scores?
What support do you offer for my child’s corrections?
How realistic is the exam experience?
What should my child bring to the exam?
Which Format? GL-style or Catholic Grammar-Style?
GL-Style
Our Trafford Consortium exams follow the GL Assessment-style format. These exams are suitable for those Year 5 students planning to sit for Urmston Grammar, Stretford Grammar, Sale Grammar School, Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, and Altrincham Grammar School for Girls. These consist of TWO, one-hour papers in maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning.
Catholic Grammar-Style
Our Catholic Grammar-style exams follow the format of Loreto Grammar School and St Ambrose College. These consist of three papers in maths, verbal reasoning and English.
Start Times and Pick-Up Times
TRAFFORD CONSORTIUM EXAMS
Morning:
START: 9.30 am
PICK UP: 11.50 am
CATHOLIC GRAMMAR-STYLE EXAMS
5th July
START: 10.00 am
PICK UP: 12.20 pm
30th August
START: 9.30 am
PICK UP: 11.50 pm
SMALL ROOM EXAMS
START: 9.30 am
PICK UP: 11.50 am
Where is the exam venue?
TRAFFORD CONSORTIUM EXAMS
29th March: Hartford Community Centre, Davyhulme Park, Canterbury Rd, Urmston, Manchester M41 0RX
Tell me more about Hartford Community Centre.
26th April, 17th May, 21st June, 19th July, 16th August, 6th September:
The Venue, 15 Westbourne Rd, Urmston, Manchester M41 0XQ
Tell me more about The Venue.
14th June, 12th July:
Altrincham, venue TBA
CATHOLIC GRAMMAR-STYLE EXAMS
5th July: Hartford Community Centre, Davyhulme Park, Canterbury Rd, Urmston, Manchester M41 0RX
Tell me more about Hartford Community Centre.
2nd August:
Altrincham, venue TBA
30th August:
The Venue, 15 Westbourne Rd, Urmston, Manchester M41 0XQ
Tell me more about The Venue.
SMALL ROOM EXAMS
Better Tuition, 1 Crofts Bank Road, Urmston, M41 0TZ
Tell me more about Better Tuition.
Will you return my child’s exam paper?
Yes. Your child will bring the exam paper home. We will retain their answer booklet for marking. Your child’s scores will be sent by WhatsApp within 48 hours. Their answer booklet will be posted to you by first class post within 72 hours. This should arrive at your home within a week of your child’s exam.
When will I receive my child’s scores?
You will receive your child’s scores within 48 hours via WhatsApp.
Too slow? If you prefer immediate feedback, you may take your child’s paper home and mark it yourself. We will provide answers. You do need to let us know in advance if you want to do this.
Your child will bring home their question paper on the day of the exam. We will post their answer booklet to your home within 72 hours and you should receive this within a week of their exam.
Can I cancel or reschedule?
We do not offer refunds UNLESS the cancellation request is made within seven days of making your booking AND no less than one week before the exam. We are unable to reschedule appointments. If your child misses their practice exam for any reason, we will post the papers to you, together with the answers. You will have full access to the average scores, estimated likelihood of passing and video tutorials.
What support do you offer for my child’s corrections?
We recommend that you ask your child to complete his or her corrections first of all. This will establish whether mistakes were made through lack of understanding, nerves or poor exam technique. We provide full answers so that you can check your child’s corrections.
Next, your child should make use of our video tutorials. These will take your child through every error s/he has made. Whilst completing the video tutorials, your child should make a note of any topic s/he needs more help with. Tell me more about your video tutorials.
Finally, if your child attends Better Tuition for lessons, s/he should bring his/ her papers to us so that we can review them. We will focus on any weak areas identified by the exam. If your child is not currently registered with us and you’d like to book some lessons, please call Paul or Christine now on 0161 748 3912.
Tell me more about your service.
How realistic is the exam experience?
Our exams closely mirror the official grammar school entrance examinations. Our papers are professionally written by our entrance exam experts. They take place in a formal exam setting: children sit apart and the tests are silent. Our invigilators are caring and friendly and will help your child through any nervousness. We ensure that the children fill in the answer grids correctly (this is often a stumbling block) and give advice about exam technique (for example, we will encourage children to check their answers if they finish early). There is a short, supervised break between papers.
What should my child bring to the exam?
Your child should bring two pencils and a rubber, as well as a drink and a snack (for break time) if desired.
Tell me more about the benefits of sitting a Better Tuition practice entrance exam
Your child will benefit hugely from sitting an exam under timed conditions in unfamiliar surroundings. S/he may find it very difficult. From time to time, children panic and get very upset when they sit a practice entrance exam. After all, they are only nine or ten years old. Our sympathetic team will look after your child and help him/ her manage his/ her nerves. We find that once they have overcome the hurdle of their first practice exam, children are able to sit the real exam with much more confidence. They know what to expect and they have the reassurance that they ‘survived’ their practice exam.
We will post average scores and range for the group sitting the exam on our website. You will be given a password to access this. We will also give you the estimated likelihood of passing. This will be based on our professional judgement, coupled with previous years’ data.
Tell me more about your service
We are Paul Syrett and Christine McLaughlin; owners of Better Tuition. We have been running practice exams for over fifteen years and we are experts in our field. Over the years, the feedback we have received, coupled with our pass rates, tells us that our exams are the perfect way to prepare your child for grammar school entrance exams in Trafford and beyond. Our exams are suitable for children aiming to sit entrance exams for:
Urmston Grammar
Stretford Grammar
Sale Grammar
Altrincham Grammar School for Girls
Altrincham Grammar School for Boys
Loreto Grammar School
St Ambrose College
& many more.
We write our own exam papers, adhering to the highest possible standards. Your child will not have encountered our papers elsewhere.
We also offer entrance exam tuition, both online and face-to-face at our popular tuition centre in the heart of Urmston.
Surprisingly, many tuition services do not allow parents to see their child’s exam papers. We believe that it is extremely important that children should be able to work on corrections, so it is essential that their papers are returned. It’s advisable to go through the paper to check why errors have been made. For example, did your child run out of time? Did s/he perform poorly due to nerves? Were there topics covered that s/he did not understand? Or did s/he make what is often termed ‘silly mistakes’? Would s/he have gained marks if s/he had written down working out? Incidentally, it’s important to know that we ALL make silly mistakes – so please don’t berate your child too much about these. Don’t forget we provide detailed video tutorials at no extra cost. These will take your child through each question so that they can understand their errors, taking the burden from your shoulders.
Tell me more about your video tutorials
These are recorded, mini-lessons, which take your child through every question on the exam paper. Of course, your child should only watch the tutorials for the questions s/he answered wrongly or found difficult.
We suggest that your child should attempt their corrections independently before watching the video tutorials and there are two reasons for this:
- Your child may be able to achieve the correct answer on their own.
- Your child’s confidence will increase if s/he can work out the correct answer without help.
The video tutorials can be found on our website. We will provide you with a password for these on the day of the exam. You can download and save the video tutorials if you are going away, for example, and won’t have access to wifi.
To get a feel for our tutorial style, please watch this mini-masterclass in Verbal Reasoning Codes.
Tell me more about The Venue
ADDRESS: The Venue, 15 Westbourne Rd, Urmston, Manchester M41 0XQ
The Venue is located in Urmston, a five-minute walk from Better Tuition. There is ample parking on-site. Bus numbers 15, 23, 245 and 248 (alight at Urmston Library) as well as bus number 255 (alight at Urmston train station) will take you close to The Venue.
You may also take the train from Irlam or Manchester city centre.
Tell me more about Hartford Community Centre
ADDRESS: Hartford Community Centre, Davyhulme Park, Canterbury Rd, Urmston, Manchester M41 0RX.
The Community Centre is inside Davyhulme Park (see photo). On Canterbury Road, if the park is on your right, the entrance to the community centre will be on the right, before Davyhulme Primary.There is limited parking onsite. You may find it easier to park on Canterbury Road.
Bus numbers 15, 23, 245 and 248 (alight at Urmston Library) will take you within a ten-minute walk to Hartford Community Centre.
You may also take the train from Irlam or Manchester city centre, alighting at Urmston Train Station.
Tell me more about Better Tuition
Better Tuition is located on Urmston’s main crossroads. Our address is 1, Crofts Bank Road, Urmston, M41 0TZ (our entrance is around the corner on Flixton Road) and we are situated above Home Estate Agents.
You may park opposite our centre on Flixton Road (free parking for two hours) or you may like to park in Eden Square car park at Sumner Way, Urmston, Manchester M41 5BE. Parking is free for three hours. Better Tuition is a short walk. Walk down Golden Way and turn left along Flixton Road. We are located on the corner of Flixton and Crofts Bank Roads (see map below).
If coming by train, alight at Urmston station and walk up to the main crossroads. You will see Better Tuition just across the road.
Bus numbers 15, 23, 245 and 248 will take you to Urmston. Alight at Urmston Library, then walk down Crofts Bank Road to the main crossroads. You may also take the 255 bus, alighting at Urmston train station.
