The client wanted to digitalize its tutoring process for students preparing for SATs. Their initial approach was manual and paper-based: it entailed the printing of test materials, manual grading, and labor-intensive report writing. This outdated method consumed significant time and resources while posing limitations in preparing students for the digital nature of the exam.

Recognizing the need for transformation, the tutoring centerasked us to refine their experience and optimize workflow. The company wanted a professional digital platform that mirrored the SAT testing environment, providing students with an efficient learning experience.

We were tasked with developing a user-friendly solution catering to the needs of learners. It was to streamline their experience, offering interactive knowledge validation materials, automated grading, and comprehensive performance analytics. Importantly, the end product had to have similar features and appearance to Bluebook, the official SAT practicing application, and be deeply integrated with Salesforce.

We planned to use Open edX as our main backend technology. However, during the discovery stage, it was revealed that Open edX’s capabilities weren’t sufficient to build the solution the client required. For this reason, we relied heavily on custom coding. Having left Open edX as the project’s core, we added numerous additional layers, using Python for the backend and React for the frontend.

The platform is intended for students and proctors. A proctor is a representative responsible for managing groups of students who take in-person practice tests in a specific school on a specific day and time.

For students: We developed three modes for tests on the platform. Test Mode, which simulates real test timing, Practice Mode Timed, which allows the student to start/stop the test on demand, and Practice Mode Untimed, which is totally self-paced and provides the most flexibility.

When the student first lands on a practice test, they are greeted by Onboarding Helper – this feature helps learners navigate the platform.

To further simplify navigation and improve the UX, we created the Directions block that explains what the student is supposed to do in each individual section of the test.

As per the client’s request, the test completely mirrors SATs and offers the same functionality as the official SAT practicing application Bluebook. We added a built-in calculator, a Reference Sheet, text annotations, and the ability to cross out answers students believe are incorrect.

Every student receives a PDF score report upon completion of the test. This report provides details on a completed test, showing learners correct and incorrect answers, how much time they spent on each question, and other data. By analyzing it, students can discover their weaknesses and overcome them before the exam. 

To make the tool as accurate as possible, our team designed a custom grading scheme similar to the one used in SATs. It grades learners using complex formulas and provides a grading range rather than exact points for answers. The platform also utilizes adaptive difficulty: if a learner struggles in some modules, the platform finds simpler questions for subsequent modules. Alternatively, if the learner answers most of the questions correctly, the subsequent modules will be harder, resulting in a higher final score.

To make the tool convenient, we designed the Student Dashboard where learners can review results for completed tests, see scheduled tests, resume paused tests, download and share score reports, and more. The dashboard provides centralized access to information, helping students quickly find what they need.

For proctors: To streamline the tutoring process, we designed the Proctor Cabinet with tools for smooth administration and supervision of testing sessions. They allow proctors to access the personal data of participating students, monitor the progress of each student within their respective modules, and enact emergency measures such as individual or group-wide pauses as necessary. They can also manage technology loaned out to learners, ensuring smooth logistics during tests.

High Pass Education already delivered exam preparation built on strong content and realistic testing through its LMS.

The next challenge was to deepen preparation quality and personalize learning, which the LMS could not support.

Addressing these requirements required extending the assessment and preparation infrastructure beyond standard LMS capabilities.

The challenge created a set of objectives:

• Configurable assessment mechanics, including flexible test formats, rules, and per-learner settings, which fixed LMS test structures could not support.
• Detailed reporting for learners and administrators, based on multiple attempts, timing, and error patterns, rather than final scores from single attempts.
• Timely, personalized guidance between attempts, informed by learners’ test history, which standard LMS platforms do not provide.

A consistent platform experience for learners and administrators as functionality expanded.

AnyforSoft added a custom assessment and reporting layer on top of High Pass Education existing off-the-shelf LMS. The business preserved their core learning platform while enabling deeper analytics and learner-specific guidance.

Custom assessment mechanics aligned with real exam conditions

Standard LMS assessments were too rigid to train exam-specific pacing and decision-making.

AnyforSoft built a custom testing layer that allows assessments to be configured per exam scenario and per learner.

The platform supports:

• Fast test creation through a configurable test structure
• Learner-specific setting for time limits, attempts, grading rules, and passing thresholds
• Multiple test types, including speedrun tests for accuracy and speed under pressure

Comparative analytics that guide learners between attempts

Learners previously received isolated test results without clear direction on what to change next. The custom reporting layer compares multiple attempts to reveal performance trends over time.

Learners see:

• Knowledge gaps versus time-management issues
• Recurring mistake patterns across attempts
• Behavioral signals based on pacing and navigation (such as, uncertainty during test flow)

Administrators access aggregated statistics across learners and attempts, such as most common responses for each question or average time spent per question. These reports allow instructors to adjust course materials to learner strategies and refine assessment content.

AI avatars to personalize 1:1 tutor-student guidance

Frequent requests for individual consultations became a bottleneck as the platform scaled. To address this, AnyforSoft introduced an AI tutor currently deployed in a limited rollout.

The AI avatar:

• Offers 20–30 minute on-demand sessions 
• Explains learning materials and exam topics
• Generates on-the-spot questions and quizzes to check understanding
• Adapts explanations based on observed knowledge gaps

Together with custom reporting, the AI avatar surfaces patterns that would otherwise require manual instructor analysis, reducing preparation time for human experts.

Unified platform experience across assessment and learning

High Pass Education has course delivery and assessment run on separate platforms. AnyforSoft designed the interface so learners and administrators interact with them as a single workflow.

This layer includes:

• All users can seamlessly transition between content, tests, and results 
• Interfaces adapted to learner and administrator tasks across both systems
• Consistent interaction patterns and visual language throughout the platform
• Accessibility aligned with WCAG standards and consistent behavior across devices and browsers

Deeper analytics and personalization were introduced without adding operational friction.

The custom assessment and reporting layer changed how learners prepare for exams. They also allowed instructors to allocate their time and scale learning programs more efficiently.

Outcomes for learners: clearer focus between attempts

Learners gained visibility into not only their scores, but also how their performance evolved across attempts. Comparative analytics and complementary test formats help them understand whether missed results were caused by knowledge gaps or exam-taking behavior.L

As a result, learners can:

• Understand their strength and weaknesses better based on trend-based feedback
• Better prepare for real exam conditions, including pacing and decision-making under time pressure
• Gain a greater confidence driven by consistent, data-backed guidance rather than isolated scores

Outcomes for instructors and administrators: less manual analysis

Previously, reviewing learner progress required manually examining multiple reports and tools before providing guidance. The consolidated reporting layer and AI-assisted support reduced the need for time-consuming preparation ahead of consultations.

This led to:

• Reduced reliance on one-to-one sessions for routine clarification
• Faster understanding of learner challenges without manual data review
• A simplified operational workflow with fewer systems to monitor

Instructors could focus on high-value interventions rather than repetitive analysis.

Outcomes for the business: scalable growth without added overhead

By extending the existing LMS instead of replacing it, High Pass Education preserved its core learning workflows while unlocking deeper personalization and analytics.

According to the client, these changes supported stronger business performance:

• The client reported their strongest Q1 performance to date in 2025
• Improved learner adoption driven by clearer preparation value
• The ability to support program growth without expanding instructional staff

Outcomes for the platform: a foundation for ongoing evolution

The solution was designed as an extensible layer rather than a fixed feature set. New test formats, reporting logic, and guidance mechanisms can be added without reworking existing functionality.

This resulted in a platform ready for long-term evolution:

• Faster iteration on assessment models
• Reduced dependency on third-party tools
• Stable performance as user volume grows

Assessment and testing

• Configurable test creation with flexible structures and rules
• Adjustable test parameters, including time limits, attempt counts, grading rules, and passing thresholds
• Per-learner configuration of test settings for personalized preparation scenarios
• Multiple test types, including regular and speedrun formats designed to train accuracy and decision-making under time pressure

Reporting and analytics

• Section-level subscores combined with overall performance results
• View-only answer review with correct and incorrect responses and explanations
• Comparative analytics across multiple test attempts to identify performance trends, including bookmarks, mistake types, and recurring patterns
• Analysis of recurring mistake types and behavioral patterns during test flow
• Time-based metrics, including pacing and time spent per question  
• Aggregated statistics for administrators across learners and timeframes  

Personalized guidance (AI tutors)

• On-demand AI-guided sessions lasting 20–30 minutes
• AI access to aggregated learner test history across attempts
• Topic-specific explanations informed by identified knowledge gaps
• AI-generated practice questions and quizzes to validate understanding between attempts
• Limited rollout configuration to support controlled testing and gradual adoption

Platform and administration

• Unified workflows across course delivery and assessment systems
• Role-specific interfaces for learners and administrators
• Accessibility aligned with WCAG 2.1 standards
• Fast synchronization of user-related updates between LMS and LTI systems (within 5–20 seconds)

For Imperial College Business School, the website is more than a digital tool. It’s rather the central hub of communication for students, academia, and partners. 

However, as time passed, it began to show quiet signs of wear, such as layout glitches, backend inconsistencies, and a growing list of unresolved technical tasks. Firstly, these issues felt minor on their own. Over time, they gradually added up, affecting performance and reliability.

But the true complexity wasn’t in fixing isolated technical issues—it was in evolving the system as a whole.

The ICBS team needed a solution that would:

• Address accumulated technical debt without disrupting existing workflows
• Preserve the familiar user experience while introducing meaningful improvements
• Ensure full data security and continuity, even during core system updates
• Prepare the platform for Drupal 10, with minimal risk and zero downtime 

Any transformation had to feel natural, like restoring a historic building while daily life continues inside. It was a delicate balance between progress and stability, and it called for a partner who could deliver both.

AnyforSoft delegated the task of ICBS’s website update to a perfectly coordinated team consisting of developers most seasoned in Drupal. They were backed up by specialists with strong expertise in data security, along with UX designers experienced in educational solutions.

Our approach included:

• Platform stabilization. We resolved layout inconsistencies, fixed backend bugs, and addressed long-standing technical issues that had affected performance and reliability. 
• User experience preservation. Instead of overhauling the interface, we made careful, design-aligned improvements to ensure that the upgraded website felt familiar and intuitive to returning users. 
• Navigation and content control improvement. We restructured the drop-down menu using well-supported Drupal modules and implemented custom components to streamline content creation and management. 
• System security and future readiness. We applied regular Drupal 9 updates and security patches and assessed the full scope of work required to migrate to Drupal 10. This included preparing the platform architecture for a smooth and secure transition.

We started with a website designed to guide students through their learning journey and support educational staff in creating the most favorable conditions for it—though it had begun to show signs of age and inconsistency. We delivered a platform that supports the school’s development as an industry leader and is fully capable of staying in sync with innovation.

The fundamental goal was to create a user-friendly online presence while ensuring the safety of user data and providing ongoing technical assistance across three websites: the main and two for students with restricted access.

The main challenge of the project was striking a balance between the client’s initial request/idea and the broader considerations of security, support, and maintenance across three websites.

We are always on the client’s side in attempting to get the best-fitted solution, combining the client’s vision with the overall integrity and safety of the websites.

We extended and added functionality to the client’s sites as part of our solution. The development team worked to reconfigure several existing functionalities, aligning them with best coding practices. Our team aimed to enhance usability, improve user-friendliness, and ensure accessibility across the sites.

Improvements were needed on both the front end and back end, which required tight coordination within the development team.

Creating a mobile version was a separate task that had to be tackled from scratch.

Additionally, the website’s architecture had its own specifics, which called for intelligent approaches:

• Layout and content blocks were mixed, making content editing difficult and prone to layout errors.
• Video accessibility was limited—students in certain regions couldn’t view video content due to YouTube’s regional restrictions.
• The search engine lacked precision, making it harder to deliver targeted information to the audience.

The project also required our team to apply a marketing mindset when choosing technical solutions. The ultimate goal was to create a website that would not only attract students effectively but also build trust with the entire community of students, partners, and stakeholders.

The task was multidimensional, so we started with a discovery phase to ensure consistent, well-aligned steps along the way.

To recreate the website while preserving its DNA, we involved the following capabilities:

• Mobile-first theme development. We designed and implemented a custom Drupal 10 theme from scratch, following a mobile-first approach. Responsive images, videos, and key interactive elements were optimized for performance across all devices using best practices and testing tools like Lighthouse.
• Search engine improvement. The internal search functionality was reworked with better indexing logic and enhanced UX to deliver more relevant and accessible results.
• Content management simplification. We introduced a paragraph-based content structure, enabling non-technical editors to update content independently and without disrupting design.
• Decoupling layout from content. Selected pages and content types were rebuilt to ensure a clear separation between layout and content—making editing simpler and reducing structural risks.
• Localized video hosting. We developed a custom video upload feature that enabled WUAS to host videos directly on its server, removing the dependency on third-party platforms with regional restrictions.
• Dependency management automation. We transitioned the site to a Composer-based architecture, automating module, library, and version control processes to improve maintainability.

Each solution was chosen not only to solve a problem, but to strengthen the platform’s ability to serve a global academic community—efficiently, accessibly, and reliably.

The difference between “good enough” and “built to lead”

The value of the results goes beyond the sum of individual tasks because coordinated efforts brought a new level of technical capability and marketing power to the website:

• High performance across all devices. The new mobile-first theme delivered excellent results in performance testing, successfully meeting Google’s Core Web Vitals and scoring high in Lighthouse evaluations.
• Improved information discovery. The enhanced search engine now returns faster, more relevant results making it easier for prospective students and applicants to find what they’re looking for.
• Editor-friendly content updates. Thanks to the paragraph-based structure, content editors can now update pages without developer assistance—reducing bottlenecks and eliminating layout risks.
• Stable and scalable architecture. The clear separation between layout and content improved long-term maintainability and reduced the risk of breaking the design during routine edits.
• Uninterrupted video access worldwide. With self-hosted videos replacing region-restricted embeds, students across all geographies now enjoy uninterrupted access to media content.
• Streamlined technical maintenance. Composer-based dependency management replaced manual processes, saving time and minimizing the risk of version conflicts during updates and ongoing support.

The Wittenborg case shows how the line between “good and performative” and “powerful and up-to-date” can seem subtle until real transformation happens.

You put in the coordinated, thoughtful effort of the development team and get a website operating at its full potential.