The BBFC examines films and videos before public release to assign age ratings based on criteria for issues like discrimination, drugs, horror, dangerous behavior, language, nudity, sex, and violence. They view entire films and use their Classification Guidelines to determine the appropriate rating. For physical media like DVDs and Blu-rays, only one examiner is needed. They also work with online services to apply age ratings to downloaded and streamed video content to help parents choose suitable content for children.

1. The BBFC
The BBFC are a non-forprofit business. The BBFC's
income is only from the
fees it charges for its
services and its fees are
changed only as
appropriate in order to
cover its costs.

2. How they work
In order to protect children from unsuitable and harmful
content in films and videos, the BBFC examines and age rates
films and videos before they are put on show for the public.
The BBFC watch films from start to finish and award an age
rating and insight to each movie. The BBFC come to a
conclusion by reaching an age rating by matching the criteria
they have for each rating in their Classification Guidelines.
The same process from the BBFC exists for DVDs and Blu-rays
however these are only seen by one Examiner.

3. What do they look at?
They specifically look at issues such as
discrimination, drugs, horror, dangerous behaviour,
language, nudity, sex, and violence when making
decisions on how to rate the movie and judge how
explicit it is.
The release format of a work has an impact on
classification. Our decisions on the age rating of
DVDs and Blu-rays can occasionally be stricter than
at the cinema because there is a higher risk of
underage viewing in the home and a greater
potential for watching scenes out of context.

4. Downloads
The BBFC works with many on demand services to
provide trusted age ratings for video content
available for download and streaming online. Some
of the downloads ask parental controls allowing
parents to choose and decide whether it is suitable
to children. These films include an appropriate age
rating to recommend them. The BBFC as well as the
home entertainment industry understand that this
is helpful to parents when the parents and their
children are choosing a film or TV content to stream
or download.