diff --git a/racevisionGame/src/main/java/mock/app/Event.java b/racevisionGame/src/main/java/mock/app/Event.java
index 5c6dd193..ecd72cb8 100644
--- a/racevisionGame/src/main/java/mock/app/Event.java
+++ b/racevisionGame/src/main/java/mock/app/Event.java
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ public class Event {
             this.boatXML = XMLReader.readXMLFileToString(boatsXMLFile, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
             this.regattaXML = XMLReader.readXMLFileToString(regattaXMLFile, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
 
-        } catch (TransformerException | XMLReaderException e) {
+        } catch (XMLReaderException e) {
             throw new EventConstructionException("Could not read XML files.", e);
         }
 
diff --git a/racevisionGame/src/main/java/shared/dataInput/XMLReader.java b/racevisionGame/src/main/java/shared/dataInput/XMLReader.java
index 04c6c1f7..dd5a4d6d 100644
--- a/racevisionGame/src/main/java/shared/dataInput/XMLReader.java
+++ b/racevisionGame/src/main/java/shared/dataInput/XMLReader.java
@@ -166,10 +166,9 @@ public abstract class XMLReader {
      * @param path path of the XML
      * @param encoding encoding of the xml
      * @return A string containing the contents of the specified file.
-     * @throws TransformerException Issue with the XML format
      * @throws XMLReaderException Thrown if file cannot be read for some reason.
      */
-    public static String readXMLFileToString(String path, Charset encoding) throws TransformerException, XMLReaderException {
+    public static String readXMLFileToString(String path, Charset encoding) throws XMLReaderException {
 
         InputStream fileStream = XMLReader.class.getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(path);
 
@@ -182,7 +181,11 @@ public abstract class XMLReader {
 
         doc.getDocumentElement().normalize();
 
-        return XMLReader.getContents(doc);
+        try {
+            return XMLReader.getContents(doc);
+        } catch (TransformerException e) {
+            throw new XMLReaderException("Could not get XML file contents.", e);
+        }
 
     }
 
diff --git a/racevisionGame/src/test/java/network/BinaryMessageDecoderTest.java b/racevisionGame/src/test/java/network/BinaryMessageDecoderTest.java
index 55ac00be..46441775 100644
--- a/racevisionGame/src/test/java/network/BinaryMessageDecoderTest.java
+++ b/racevisionGame/src/test/java/network/BinaryMessageDecoderTest.java
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ public class BinaryMessageDecoderTest {
             XMLMessageDecoderTest.compareXMLMessages(xmlMessage, xmlMessageDecoded);
 
 
-        } catch (XMLReaderException | TransformerException e){
+        } catch (XMLReaderException e){
             fail("couldn't read file" + e.getMessage());
         }
     }
diff --git a/racevisionGame/src/test/java/network/MessageDecoders/XMLMessageDecoderTest.java b/racevisionGame/src/test/java/network/MessageDecoders/XMLMessageDecoderTest.java
index f0c0ba0b..a71f3f34 100644
--- a/racevisionGame/src/test/java/network/MessageDecoders/XMLMessageDecoderTest.java
+++ b/racevisionGame/src/test/java/network/MessageDecoders/XMLMessageDecoderTest.java
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ public class XMLMessageDecoderTest {
             compareXMLMessages(message, decodedMessage);
 
 
-        } catch (XMLReaderException | TransformerException e){
+        } catch (XMLReaderException e){
             fail("couldn't read file" + e.getMessage());
         }
 
diff --git a/racevisionGame/src/test/java/shared/dataInput/BoatXMLReaderTest.java b/racevisionGame/src/test/java/shared/dataInput/BoatXMLReaderTest.java
index 60ec2be9..029447d6 100644
--- a/racevisionGame/src/test/java/shared/dataInput/BoatXMLReaderTest.java
+++ b/racevisionGame/src/test/java/shared/dataInput/BoatXMLReaderTest.java
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ public class BoatXMLReaderTest {
         try {
             boatXMLString = XMLReader.readXMLFileToString("mock/mockXML/boatTest.xml", StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
 
-        } catch (TransformerException | XMLReaderException e) {
+        } catch (XMLReaderException e) {
             throw new InvalidBoatDataException("Could not read boat XML file into a string.", e);
 
         }
diff --git a/racevisionGame/src/test/java/shared/dataInput/RaceXMLReaderTest.java b/racevisionGame/src/test/java/shared/dataInput/RaceXMLReaderTest.java
index 6080919d..1f4e72f6 100644
--- a/racevisionGame/src/test/java/shared/dataInput/RaceXMLReaderTest.java
+++ b/racevisionGame/src/test/java/shared/dataInput/RaceXMLReaderTest.java
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ public class RaceXMLReaderTest {
         try {
             raceXMLString = XMLReader.readXMLFileToString("mock/mockXML/raceTest.xml", StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
 
-        } catch (TransformerException | XMLReaderException e) {
+        } catch (XMLReaderException e) {
             throw new InvalidRaceDataException("Could not read race XML file into a string.", e);
 
         }
diff --git a/racevisionGame/src/test/java/shared/dataInput/RegattaXMLReaderTest.java b/racevisionGame/src/test/java/shared/dataInput/RegattaXMLReaderTest.java
index 2f043c0d..d406af32 100644
--- a/racevisionGame/src/test/java/shared/dataInput/RegattaXMLReaderTest.java
+++ b/racevisionGame/src/test/java/shared/dataInput/RegattaXMLReaderTest.java
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ public class RegattaXMLReaderTest {
         try {
             regattaXMLString = XMLReader.readXMLFileToString("mock/mockXML/regattaTest.xml", StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
 
-        } catch (TransformerException | XMLReaderException e) {
+        } catch (XMLReaderException e) {
             throw new InvalidRegattaDataException("Could not read regatta XML file into a string.", e);
 
         }