Certification

Certification is the classification of something due to certain characteristics. In film, this is done through through classification and censorship.

Censorship is the act of cutting scenes or preventing material from being shown to protect younger viewers / certain members of the public.

Classification is the restriction of certain material on the grounds of age. This is done through the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) who rate films, depending on their characteristics, either a 'U', 'PG', 12, 12A, 15, 18 or 18R. The rating is usually based on acts of swearing, violence,  criminal activity, etc - scenes that you don't want innocent children seeing. Specific councils are able to over-rule these ratings, however the BBFC set the guideline for the rest of the country. This year, the BBFC are changing their guidelines of ratings after hearing opinions from the public. They are now being more strict for younger ages (U, PG, and 12s) for horror films and criminal activity, however are allowing more leniency and are being more tollerant as to what 15 rated films are allowed to show. This means that more films are going to drop from 18 rated films to 15 rated films, however less films are going to be rated U, PG or 12 when they shouldn't be.