England moves to lock in school phone curbs

Ministers are moving to turn England’s school mobile phone rules into law, shifting a long-standing policy push from guidance into statute as the government tries to tighten control over children’s screen use and strengthen schools’ hand in enforcing phone-free days. The change is being advanced through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill after fresh parliamentary pressure over children’s online safety and time spent on devices.

The proposal would formalise an approach already encouraged across England’s schools: pupils should not be using phones during lessons, between lessons, at breaktimes or at lunchtime. Government guidance updated on 19 February 2026 says schools and trusts should implement policies prohibiting use throughout the school day, while Ofsted has said inspectors will expect schools with a full ban to show that the policy is clearly communicated and consistently enforced.

That makes the political significance of the move greater than the practical change for many schools. Most schools in England already restrict phones in some form. Official consultation material published in March said 99.8 per cent of primary schools and 90 per cent of secondary schools had a policy limiting pupils’ use of mobile phones during the school day. Yet the same material also pointed to continued disruption, citing Department for Education data showing that 58 per cent of secondary pupils said mobile devices were used when they were not supposed to be in at least some lessons.

The legal route matters because guidance, however strongly worded, leaves school leaders exposed to disputes over consistency, exemptions and parental challenge. A statutory footing would give ministers and headteachers clearer backing if enforcement is contested. It would also align the school-phone policy with a broader government argument that children’s welfare, behaviour and attention in school cannot be separated from the wider digital environment in which they spend much of their time.

Chronology is central to understanding the measure. The drive began under the previous Conservative government, which issued non-statutory guidance in February 2024 aimed at prohibiting phone use during the school day. After the change of government, Labour initially argued that existing powers and guidance were sufficient. That position came under pressure this year as ministers launched a wider consultation on children’s relationship with smartphones and social media, and as peers pushed amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill covering digital harms, social media and school phones.

Parliamentary documents show the bill now explicitly covers guidance relating to the use of mobile phones and other interactive communication devices in schools. Only days earlier, Commons papers had recorded the government resisting a Lords amendment on the grounds that a legislative change was unnecessary because guidance already existed. The decision to proceed nonetheless underlines how quickly the politics of child online protection have shifted, with ministers seeking to avoid appearing passive as concern grows over smartphone dependency, bullying, distraction and exposure to harmful content.

Supporters of the move say the case is now less about whether schools should restrict phones and more about how uniform enforcement should be. Policies vary widely across England. Some schools require pupils to hand devices in at the start of the day, some allow them to be kept switched off in bags, and others ban them from the premises altogether. That unevenness has allowed schools to adapt rules to age groups and local needs, but it has also produced patchy enforcement and mixed expectations among parents and pupils.

Critics of a hard legal ban do not necessarily dispute the problem. Their concern is that legislation may give the impression of decisive action while leaving operational questions unresolved. Secure storage, confiscation procedures, safeguarding exceptions and the treatment of children with special educational needs or medical requirements still have to be handled at school level. School leaders have also warned that enforcement works best when backed by parental support rather than by inspection pressure alone.

The bigger backdrop is a widening campaign over children’s online lives. Ministers opened a national consultation on 2 March 2026 to examine stronger action on children’s social media use, including possible restrictions and changes to the digital environment they face. Parliament has already rejected, for a second time, a separate proposal for an outright social media ban for under-16s, but the debate has intensified demands for practical steps that can be implemented more quickly. A statutory school phone ban offers ministers one such step: visible, enforceable and easier to deliver than a blanket online prohibition beyond the school gate.