As one of the world’s leading independent day/boarding schools, Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario offers students in grades 7 through 12 access to an abundance of learning opportunities that combine rigorous academics with dynamic arts, athletics and community service. At the core of the Appleby experience is the school’s commitment to breadth, excellence, innovation and caring, as demonstrated in its hallmark programs such as the requirement for every student to participate in a global learning experience; its extensive experiential learning program centered around the S. Bruce McLaughlin Northern Campus in Temagami, Ontario; its mandatory grade 12 boarding program; and, its diplomas of specialization in Business, S.T.E.M., the Creative Arts, Global Leadership and AP Capstone.

"We offer a well-rounded education with a strong emphasis on co-curricular activities," shared Rudianne Grigson, Admissions Officer at Appleby College. "From arts and sports to service and global education, our programs challenge students to develop high levels of capabilities across a wide range of activities."

“Every year, we have more than a dozen global education opportunities for students that allow them to travel to different cities and countries around the world, each with a different subject focus,” she explained. “If they go to Indonesia, they’ll focus on sustainability in the environment. If they choose Iceland, the focus is on climate change. For Germany, the focus is on language and culture. There’s always a fantastic learning experience waiting for each of our students.”

“Admission to Appleby College is quite competitive,” Grigson continued. “To ensure that we’re enrolling the students who are passionate about taking full advantage of the opportunities we offer, we ask families to complete a multi-step admissions process. They fill out the online application, submit report cards and a confidential teacher reference, and complete an in-person or Zoom interview. Then the last piece is the Asynchronous Assessment in Kira Talent.”

Creating a scalable process for a growing pool of students

“Our Chief Marketing and Enrolment Officer was the first to suggest we take a look at Kira as a way to remove bias from our application process," explained Grigson. "Several of my colleagues then had a chance to meet with the Kira team and demo the product at an EMA conference."

"In 2022, we had a 40% increase in applications," she continued.

“Introducing Kira into our admissions process allowed us to handle the increased volume without compromising the quality of our assessments."

“When we’re torn between two students with stellar applications, Kira gives us that extra depth of insight that we previously didn’t have access to,” Grigson explained.

“Kira helps us differentiate between strong applicants.”

“Being able to pull up the recorded Kira responses and watch it together as an admissions committee helps us reach a final decision faster and with greater confidence,” she added.

Getting a full picture of applicant ability

"Kira allows you to customize the assessment to really focus on whatever factor you’re looking to assess," shared Grigson. “We evaluate students’ traits and soft skills, such as resilience, engagement, and respect, as well as their hard skills, such as language, and academic aptitude.”

“We don't have an ESL program at Appleby, so students need an intermediate to advanced level of English,” she explained. “For our applicants whose first language is not English, we require a standard English proficiency test, and then Kira gives us another opportunity to get an informal assessment of their confidence in and command of the language.”

“We want to ensure that students have the set of skills necessary to flourish in our rigorous academic curriculum, while participating in experiential trips and co-curricular and club programs,” Grigson explained.

“Having that extra layer of analysis from Kira is invaluable in making those determinations.”

With Kira’s built-in integrity metrics, Appleby can ensure that they’re making those decisions based on a fair and accurate representation of the students’ abilities. By flagging any non-standard applicant behaviours within the platform, from typing speeds to browser refreshes, Kira automatically alerts reviewers so they can take a closer look.

“Academic integrity is a high priority for our team, especially as we scale our admissions process,” Grigson shared.

“Kira helps us do our due diligence and reinforces the defensibility of our decision-making process.”

"Kira’s integrity flags alerted us to some activity that we would have never caught before,” she added.

Delivering and receiving an exceptional experience

With an applicant experience score of 4.6/5, earning a rating of ‘Exceptional’, Appleby’s applicants were keen to share their positive experiences in completing the assessment.

“We’ve received really positive feedback from our applicants,” Grigson shared.

“Kira creates such a wonderful touch point with students and their families, which helps us ensure that we’re maintaining a high level of care and personalization even as we scale the enrollment process.”

“The support from Kira behind the scenes is a big part of that,” she continued. “The Kira team is so responsive and friendly. When our team went to Kira with any questions or requests, they were quick to help us make whatever changes we needed.”

“Having a team that’s always on hand and willing to teach you makes the whole process feel effortless,” Grigson added.