The BBFC tries to minimise the need for cuts by placing the work in the appropriate category. Cuts will be required where a work contravenes relevant legislation or particular Board policies. The decision to cut a work to obtain a lower category and so make it available to a wider or younger audience is made by the distributor and not by the Board, though the Board will specify how the work should be cut to achieve a lower category eg Welcome to the Jungle which was cut to reduce the volume and intensity of the violent action and weapon glamorisation and so obtain a '12A' rating instead of a '15'; and Lara Croft – Tomb Raider was cut to significantly reduce the sight of a flick knife and its glamorisation in order to obtain a '12' rating (this was before the introduction of '12A').

In instances in which the appeal of the work suggests a lower category, the Board will cut according to the requirements of the 1994 amendment to the Video Recordings Act, as incorporated in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act.

The process for cuts, briefly, is as follows:

• Cuts specified by Board in writing, by examiners in the first instance.
• Checked by Senior Examiners.
• Choice of category offered to reduce needs for cuts.
• Company free to find own editing solutions, for artistic or technical reasons.
• Resubmitted work is viewed by a second team to check that the cuts have been made.
• Copy of cuts deposited with the Board.
• In-house trial cuts may be made to check technical feasibility of proposed cuts.

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