A Star Tuition Group Named Best Personalised Academic Tuition Provider in Greater Manchester 2026

I’m absolutely delighted to share some very exciting news: A Star Tuition Group has been named Best Personalised Academic Tuition Provider in Greater Manchester in the SME News Business Elite Awards 2026.

After almost 30 years working in education and 18 years building A Star Tuition Group, receiving recognition for personalised academic tuition feels particularly special to me.

Why?

Because although the way we deliver tuition has changed considerably over the years, the principle behind what we do has never changed: Every child matters.

What does personalised tuition mean at A Star Tuition Group?

Personalised tuition doesn't necessarily mean sitting one-to-one with a tutor.

At A Star Tuition Group, we specialise in small-group, live online tuition, but there is an enormous amount of individual attention happening behind the scenes.

I don't believe effective tuition should simply involve a child turning up for an hour-long lesson and then disappearing until the following week.

We get to know our students.

We look carefully at their work, identify gaps in understanding, provide individual feedback and monitor their progress. We notice when confidence is growing, when the same mistake keeps appearing, when a student needs more challenge and when something needs explaining differently.

That individual knowledge of our students allows us to provide personalised support within the structure of a carefully planned programme.

For me, that's where excellent teaching happens.

Small-group tuition with individual attention

Our live online classes are deliberately kept small.

Our 11+ Exam Accelerator Programme and Achievers Plus Programme for Years 3 and 4 are capped at just 10 students, while our specialist GCSE Maths and Science groups are smaller still.

This gives children the benefits of learning alongside other students - sharing ideas, answering questions, developing confidence and sometimes enjoying a little healthy competition - while still receiving the attention and feedback they need as individuals.

As a teacher, I also love seeing children gradually find their voice.

A student who is reluctant to answer a question in September can be the child confidently explaining their reasoning to everyone a few months later.

Academic progress matters enormously, of course, but those changes in confidence matter too.

 

Specialist tuition from qualified, experienced teachers

Another important part of the A Star Tuition Group approach is the quality of the people doing the teaching.

Our students are taught by experienced teachers and subject specialists who understand both their subject and how children learn.

I have been a qualified teacher since 1998 and personally teach our 11+ tuition and primary programmes, including our specialist 11+ Exam Accelerator Programme.

For older students, we provide specialist KS3, GCSE and A Level Maths and Science tuition, with teaching from highly experienced subject specialists.

A Year 5 child preparing for the Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School entrance examination needs something very different from a Year 11 student preparing for GCSEs and our programmes reflect that.

From Bury to families across the UK

A Star Tuition Group was established in 2008 and has its roots here in Bury, Greater Manchester.

Since moving our teaching online, however, those geographical boundaries have disappeared.

Today, our live online tuition allows us to support children and young people much further afield while retaining the personal approach on which the business was built.

Families can access specialist teaching from home, attend live lessons, receive homework and feedback, access learning resources and communicate with us between classes.

Online doesn't have to mean impersonal.

In fact, when it's done properly, I believe it can be quite the opposite!

More than exam results

Naturally, we're incredibly proud when our students achieve excellent 11+, GCSE and A Level results.

There have been many wonderful moments over the years: children gaining places at grammar and independent schools, students achieving GCSE grades they once thought were beyond them and young people progressing to sixth form, university and the next stage of their lives.

But some of the successes I'm proudest of would never appear on an exam certificate.

It's the child who stops saying, “I can't do Maths.”

The student who starts putting their hand up.

The child who learns that getting something wrong isn't failure - it's part of learning.

The student who walks into an important examination thinking, “I've prepared for this. I can do it.”

Those transformations are every bit as important to me.

18 years of A Star Tuition Group

When I founded A Star Tuition Group in 2008, I certainly didn't imagine that 18 years later I would be teaching students live online across the UK or receiving awards for the business I'd built.

Education has changed. Technology has changed. A Star Tuition Group has changed too.

But my fundamental belief hasn't.

Children learn best when they feel supported, challenged and genuinely known by the person teaching them.

So being recognised as Best Personalised Academic Tuition Provider in Greater Manchester 2026 means a great deal to me and to the whole A Star Tuition Group team.

Most importantly, thank you to the many families who have trusted us with their children over the past 18 years, including those who have returned with younger brothers and sisters or recommended us to friends.

That trust is something I never take for granted.

Helen Wilson BSc (Hons), PGCE

Founder

A Star Tuition Group

 

Looking for online tuition?

A Star Tuition Group provides live online tuition for students from Years 3–13, including 11+ tuition and BRGS entrance exam preparation, KS3 Maths and Science, GCSE Maths and Science, and A Level Maths, Biology and Chemistry.

If you'd like to find out which of our programmes may be suitable for your child, get in touch with A Star Tuition Group and tell us a little about the support you're looking for.