England plans phone ban in schools
- The UK government plans to make England’s school phone guidance statutory, using the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to require phone-free policies. - Skills minister Jacqui Smith said schools must follow the guidance unless they have a legally justifiable reason, tightening rules issued in February. - Most schools already restrict phones: 90% of secondaries and 99.8% of primaries had policies in 2025. (childrenscommissioner.gov.uk)
England is preparing to turn school phone guidance into a legal requirement, moving beyond advice to a statutory rule for schools. (schoolsweek.co.uk) Skills minister Jacqui Smith told the House of Lords the government will amend the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to put existing guidance on a statutory footing. She said schools would have to follow it unless they had a “legally justifiable reason” not to. (schoolsweek.co.uk) (tes.com) The guidance itself was updated by the Department for Education on February 19, 2026, and advises schools in England to prohibit mobile phone use throughout the school day. It covers lessons, movement between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime. (gov.uk) From April 1, Ofsted inspections began checking what each school’s phone policy is, how it is explained to parents and pupils, and whether it is followed consistently. Inspectors were told the department expects a ban “by default.” (educationinspection.blog.gov.uk) The legal shift follows a January package in which ministers announced “tougher” phone guidance and opened a consultation on children’s social media use. The government said then that schools would be expected to be phone-free by default, but the policy was still non-statutory. (gov.uk) (schoolsweek.co.uk) In practice, most schools already have restrictions in place. The Children’s Commissioner said survey data from nearly 19,000 schools and colleges showed 90% of secondary schools and 99.8% of primary schools had policies limiting phone use during school hours. (childrenscommissioner.gov.uk) That means the government is not introducing phones into school rules for the first time; it is giving legal force to a standard many heads already enforce. The new argument is about consistency, exemptions and how much discretion schools should keep. (schoolsweek.co.uk) (gov.uk) The department has also published separate advice for parents, telling schools to explain clearly how families can contact pupils in an emergency and what exceptions may apply. That reflects one of the main objections raised when stricter school phone rules are proposed. (gov.uk) If Parliament approves the amendment, England’s phone-free default for schools will no longer rest mainly on guidance and inspection pressure. It will sit in law, with schools expected to justify any departure from it. (schoolsweek.co.uk) (tes.com)
