The BBFC Student guide

All you need to know, all in one place

The BBFC Student Guide gives you a detailed overview of all aspects of censorship and the classifying process, from key moments in history to recent decisions on age ratings. 

Timelines

If you’d like to know how the BBFC has dealt with specific issues, you can use these to explore important landmarks in BBFC history from 1912 to the present day.

BBFC History

Here, you can track the BBFC’s history and decision making decade by decade, covering controversies and landmark decisions.

Legislation

The BBFC is required to consider whether content submitted for classifying is in conflict with the law or has been created through the commission of a criminal offence. Here we look at the laws we have to follow.

The Process

A exploration of how the classifying process works and details of each of the issues that must be taken into account by Compliance Officers when they’re looking at content submitted for age rating, together with information on cuts, controversial decisions, rejections and appeals.

The Issues

An in depth look at key issues like bad language, discrimination, drugs, sex and violence used when classifying works in the UK, including important decisions and information about how the published BBFC Classification Guidelines are used in practice.