An access control method, including obtaining, by a protocol-stack upper layer of a terminal, an override identifier, starting, by the protocol-stack upper layer of the terminal, an application specific congestion control for data connectivity (ACDC) check according to a service initiated by the terminal, and, if the protocol-stack upper layer of the terminal confirms that the service initiated by the terminal can pass the ACDC check and determines that the override identifier corresponding to an application identifier of the service passing the ACDC check is overriding an access class barring (ACB) check, sending, by the protocol-stack upper layer of the terminal, an radio resource control (RRC) establishment request message to an access layer of the terminal, where the request message carries an indication of not performing an ACB check.