Cultural Test (UK AVEC)

The Cultural Test is the UK-side cultural-eligibility gate for AVEC — UK Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit). Administered by the British Film Institute (BFI). A production must pass the test to receive a Cultural Certificate, without which no AVEC claim is possible.

Different format vs Irish test

While the same conceptual structure as the Irish Cultural Test (Section 481), the BFI test is a distinct instrument with its own scoring matrix, point totals and emphasis. Among the differences:

• Different cultural-content criteria (UK / European focus)
• Different scoring weightings on language, setting, characters
• Different UK / EEA practitioner test

Producers on cross-border productions need to pass both the Irish test and the BFI test if they're claiming both Section 481 — the Irish scripted tax credit and AVEC. The two are not interchangeable — a project may pass one and fail the other depending on cast / setting / location balance.

Format-specific variants

The BFI test has separate scoring sheets for:
- Film
- High-end TV
- Animation
- Children's TV
- Video games (separate but related credit regime)

Each has its own point thresholds.

In Togra

/cultural-test.php covers the BFI test scoring. Cross-border productions surface both tests' status side-by-side on the S481 + AVEC tracker pair.