PEBL Lessons did not start as a business. It started as a revision project.
At the end of my first year of A-Levels, I was trying to revise for my exams and found that the textbooks I had bought did not properly match the specifications I was studying. I was also finding that some of the teaching I was receiving, particularly in Politics and Law, did not always follow the specification closely. This made it difficult to work out exactly what I needed to know and whether I had covered everything required for my exams.
Rather than continuing to struggle with this, I decided to create my own revision resource.
Where PEBL Lessons Started
My original idea was quite simple. I wanted to create a YouTube channel that went through the specification topic by topic, giving me a resource that I could use for my own revision. If the videos were useful to me, I hoped they would also be useful to other students studying the same courses.
At this point, I had no intention of turning the project into a business. I was not thinking about selling revision guides, building a website or creating a whole collection of educational resources. I simply wanted to create something that could help students revise the courses I had studied myself.
The name came from the four subjects I was studying: Politics, Economics, Business and Law. PEBL was actually the name of the department at my college where these four subjects were taught. I added "Lessons" because I needed something more than just PEBL, and the videos were essentially acting as lessons for students.
The first PEBL Lessons video I created was about Democracy and Participation for the Pearson Politics specification.
The Original PEBL Lessons
The way I created content has changed quite a lot since those first videos.
Originally, I would create a longer video covering a topic, followed by Shorts covering each of the smaller subtopics. I would also create a Quizlet set for the topic and include a link to it when the video was published.
I also used the YouTube Community tab as part of the revision process. Around 12 hours before a new video was published, I would post a quiz based on the previous topic. This gave viewers another opportunity to revise what they had already learnt before moving on to something new.
Once I had completed all of the content for an exam or component, I would then create a larger podcast-style video covering the material.
The idea was always to create a collection of resources rather than relying on one type of revision. Students could watch a lesson, use the Shorts to revise smaller sections, test themselves with a quiz and eventually use the longer podcast-style videos to go back over everything.
How PEBL Lessons Became a Business
Over time, the project became much bigger than the YouTube channel I had originally imagined.
I eventually created a website where I could provide revision guides based on the same content used in the videos. However, the guides developed beyond simply putting the video content into a PDF. They also include multiple-choice quizzes, practice questions and explanations of how to approach different types of exam questions.
I also began creating articles for the website covering individual subtopics. These are designed to explain each topic clearly and consistently, giving students another way to revise the same content.
The articles have also become part of the YouTube content. They are turned into videos and published alongside the more traditional PEBL Lessons videos.
The project has also expanded across different platforms. YouTube remains an important part of PEBL Lessons, but Shorts are now also posted on Instagram and TikTok. Instagram is also used to promote the articles and longer podcast-style videos.
What started as a YouTube revision channel has gradually developed into a much larger collection of educational resources.
Building the Website
One of the things I am most proud of is the PEBL Lessons website.
Although I use Shopify to build and manage the website, I have had to learn how to use custom code to create many of the features I wanted. A lot of the things I wanted the website to do were not available through Shopify by default, so I have had to work out how to build or adapt them myself.
This has probably been one of the biggest learning experiences of running PEBL Lessons. I started the project because I wanted to create revision resources, but I have ended up learning a lot about websites, coding, digital products, content creation and running a business along the way.
Not Everything Has Worked
One of the biggest things I have learnt is that not every idea works.
At one point, I tried using YouTube's Clips feature to create separate videos from sections of my existing content. My idea was to create short, bitesize videos for each subtopic so that students could quickly revise individual parts of the specification.
Unfortunately, the idea did not work particularly well. Most of these videos received only a handful of views, so I eventually stopped using this approach.
Instead, I started creating article videos. This format has worked much better for what I was originally trying to achieve, as it allows each individual subtopic to have its own focused piece of content.
I have also experimented with making flashcards available through the website. Originally, I wanted these to be downloadable PDFs, similar to the revision guides. However, I struggled to create them in a way that looked professional and worked properly.
I then explored making the flashcards available as a subscription for around £1 per month. The problem was that creating and managing the number of flashcards needed would be extremely difficult using Shopify's existing features and custom code.
I have not yet found a solution that I am happy with, but I still think having flashcards available would be a really useful addition to PEBL Lessons.
Why I Keep Doing It
Despite the challenges, the main reason I continue to work on PEBL Lessons is still the same reason I started it.
I wanted to create revision resources that I would have found useful when I was studying.
The most rewarding part of running PEBL Lessons is knowing that the resources are helping other students with their studies. The comments on my YouTube videos are particularly important to me because they show that the work is actually being used by students.
Those comments are often what keep me motivated to continue developing the project, even when something takes much longer than expected or an idea does not work.
Where PEBL Lessons Is Now
PEBL Lessons has changed considerably from the project I started at the end of my first year of A-Levels.
It began with a YouTube channel created to solve a problem I was having with my own revision. It has since developed into a business with a website, revision guides, articles, YouTube videos, Shorts, podcasts and social media content covering Politics, Economics, Business and Law.
The original purpose, however, has remained the same.
I still want to create clear and accessible resources that help students understand their courses and prepare for their exams.
There is still a lot I want to improve and develop. Some ideas have worked, others have not, and there are still things I am trying to figure out. But I think that is part of what makes building PEBL Lessons interesting.
It is still a work in progress.
What started as a small revision project has become something I am genuinely proud of, and I am excited to see where PEBL Lessons goes next.