[2] Previously, there were no agreed rating standards, and local councils imposed their own – often differing – conditions or restrictions.
For cinema releases, the BBFC has no legal power (technically, films do not even have to be submitted for classification), as it falls to councils to decide who should be admitted to a certain film, but they generally apply the BBFC's certificates, effectively making them legally binding.
[7][9][8] Following a recommendation by the County Councils Association to replace the BBFC, the government established a committee chaired by Professor Kenneth Wheare to examine film censorship.
Only one of these proposals were adopted and saw for the first time, a compulsory certificate, X, introduced allowing only those aged 16 and older to enter.
[10][11][8] On 1 July 1970 the A certificate was split into two: The old 'A' (advisory) category was split to create a new advisory 'A' which permitted the admission of children of 5 years or over whether accompanied or not, but which warned parents that a film in this category would contain some material that parents might prefer their children under 14 not to see while the new AA allowed only those aged 14 or over to be admitted.
On 1 November 1982 the ratings system was completely overhauled with only the U certificate remaining unchanged (though its description was slightly modified).
A new Uc certificate was introduced for videos only to indicate a recording that is especially suitable for young children to watch on their own.
[8] Due to the large gap between PG and 15 and industry pressure regarding Batman, a 12 certificate was introduced on 1 August 1989.
[8] In September 2002, all of the symbols were graphically modernised but retained all their main features (colour, shape, etc.).
In October 2019, for the first time, all of the symbols were redesigned for digital streaming services and theatrical releases.
Norwich was chosen due to its relative isolation from other large towns, in order to avoid significant numbers of children travelling there to specifically take advantage of the relaxed controls.
[28][29] Between the end of the Norwich trial and the actual introduction of the 12A, a PG-12 rating was used by Tameside Council in June 2002 for Spider-Man, overruling the BBFC's 12 certification of the film.