Film ratings

Our guidelines

All our age rating decisions are made using our Guidelines. These are a list of rules and suggestions that BBFC Compliance Officers use to help decide if a film or video should be rated U, PG, 12A/12.

They are based on what the public think – every four years we ask parents, teenagers, teachers, and the general public how they think we should rate films and what they think is suitable for each age group.

You can find out more about each of the categories by clicking on the age ratings in the carousel above, or in the white box which appears on the top corner of every page.

The full version is available for download as a PDF.