This year marks the twelfth anniversary of the 12A certificate for cinema releases. The 12A certificate was introduced to let parents decide if a 12A film is suitable for a child under 12.

As part of the Into Film festival, we’re hosting workshops to accompany screenings of Gravity (12A) in Nottingham, London, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Warwick. The sessions, in which the film is introduced by BBFC Examiners, will focus on how and why the 12A certificate was established and how the BBFC classifies films 12A.

An interactive 12A teaching resource written by Into Film with the BBFC’s Education teamis also available to download. The resource which looks at PG, 12A and 15 films will allow students to continue learning about 12A in the classroom.

A number of issues are considered during the classification of a film, such as the language used, a film's tone and level of violence or threat. You can read our CBBFC 12A Guidelines here.

At an age when many young people are entering adolescence, it's difficult to implement a blanket rating that is suitable for all. The introduction of 12A solved this problem, opening up films to a wider age range by allowing those under 12 to attend if accompanied by an adult. 12A gives parents and guardians choice, as some 12-year-olds may be more equipped to deal with more mature content than others. Watch our short 12A film to find out how to use BBFCinsight to check if a 12A film is suitable a particular child: