BBFC Age certficate

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films within the United Kingdom. It has a statutory requirement to classify videos, DVDs and some video games under the Video Recordings Act 2010.

The BBFC was established in 1912 as the British Board of Film Censors by the film industry.  It began operating on 1 January 1913. Their primary function is to rate films and games.

They agreed that it would be right that each motion picture be given a certain age certificate designed to show its intended target audience. Also it would refrain people who may not be of an age where they are ready to watch a film from watching it. The certificates are given as follows :

Symbol	Name	Definition/Notes
	Universal	All ages admitted, there is nothing unsuitable for children.
	Parental Guidance	All ages admitted, but certain scenes may be unsuitable for young children. May contain mild language and sex/drugs references. May contain moderate violence if justified by context (e.g. fantasy).
	12A	Cinema only. Introduced in 2002. Films under this category are considered to be unsuitable for very young people. Those aged under 12 years are only admitted if accompanied by an adult, aged at least 18 years, at all times during the motion picture. However, it is generally not recommended that children under 12 years should watch the film. Films under this category can contain mature themes, discrimination, soft drugs, moderate swear words, infrequent strong language and moderate violence, sex references and nudity. Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Sexual violence may be implied or briefly indicated.
	12	Home media only since 2002. 12A-rated films are usually given a 12 certificate for the VHS/DVD version unless extra material has been added that requires a higher rating. Nobody younger than 12 can rent or buy a 12-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game. The content guidelines are identical to those used for the 12A certificate.
	15	Only those over 15 years are admitted. Nobody younger than 15 can rent or buy a 15-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game, or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category can contain adult themes, hard drugs, frequent strong language and limited use of very strong language, strong violence and strong sex references, and nudity without graphic detail. Sexual activity may be portrayed but without any strong detail. Sexual violence may be shown if discreet and justified by context.
	18	Only adults are admitted. Nobody younger than 18 can rent or buy an 18-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game, or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category do not have limitation on the bad language that is used. Hard drugs are generally allowed, and explicit sex references along with detailed sexual activity are also allowed. Scenes of strong real sex may be permitted if justified by the context. Very strong, gory, and/or sadistic violence is usually permitted. Strong sexual violence is permitted unless it is eroticised or excessively graphic.
	Restricted 18	Can only be shown at licensed adult cinemas or sold at licensed sex shops, and only to adults, those aged 18 or over. Films under this category are always hard-core pornography, defined as material intended for sexual stimulation and containing clear images of real sexual activity, strong fetish material, explicit animated images, or sight of certain acts such as triple simultaneous penetration and snowballing. There remains a range of material that is often cut from the R18 rating: strong images of injury in BDSM or spanking works, urolagnia, scenes suggesting incest even if staged, references to underage sex or childhood sexual development and aggressive behaviour such as hair-pulling or spitting on a performer are not permitted. More cuts are demanded in this category than any other category.

The film industry benefits very much from having the BBFC, because it may also help people decide what films they would like to watch, before knowing very much about it at all. For example, if someone was to suggest seeing an 18 rated horror film, and you saw the general description of an 18 movie, it may put you off because of some of its generalised criteria.

One of the main films that impacted the BBFC's rating scheme was 'Spiderman' in 2002. The scenes such as the fight scene in 'Spiderman' were deemed too disturbing for it to be rated a 12. But by making this film a 15, they would lose a lot of their children target audience, especially as this is a comic book character film. In order to avoid this problem, the BBFC created a new film classification - 12A.

12A allows young people with a parent/guardian to be admitted into the cinema to see this film. Therefore creating a lot more profit in sales, as children would often go to see it with their parents. Many films would then catch on and follow immediately. Big film franchises such as the Harry Potter films contain many 12A's to allow content that may be a bit risque for a 12, into their production, creating a more entertaining piece of imagery.

This is the possible prime scene that awarded 'Spiderman' the first 12A: