Key facts
- The amended guidance comes into force from September 2027 and goes beyond policies allowing phones in bags if unseen and unheard.
- Statutory guidance in force since June 2026 makes schools and trusts legally responsible for a phone-free school day.
- Schools can choose how to comply, including sealed pouches, secure lockers, collecting phones or banning them from sites.
- The Association of School and College Leaders said lockable pouches or secure storage for every pupil would be costly without government funding.
- The government also announced a review of safety standards around technology used in schools.
England will bar pupils from keeping phones in their bags or pockets during the school day under stricter government guidance, the Department for Education said in a report published on November 9, 2026. Statutory guidance that came into force in June 2026 already makes schools and trusts legally responsible for being phone-free throughout the day. Ministers said the amended guidance, which comes into force from September 2027, goes beyond the 'no see, no hear' policies in place in some schools, where phones can stay in bags if they are not seen or heard.
Education Secretary Lucy Powell said the government's 'clear message' to parents and pupils was that 'school is for learning and friendship, not scrolling'. The government said access to phones 'risks pulling children away from their learning and from each other'. Schools will decide how to comply. Some have invested in sealed pouches or secure lockers, others collect phones at the start of the day or prohibit them from sites altogether.
Head teachers' unions said schools would struggle without more funding. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders union, said phones could raise 'safety issues' and be an 'unhelpful distraction' during the school day, but that the more robust measures would 'come at a cost'. Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the guidance 'does at least provide some clarity' but that school leaders 'cannot simply make mobile phones disappear'. He said lockable pouches or other secure storage for every pupil would be costly and 'not feasible unless the government puts in the funding required to meet these costs'.
Dame Rachel de Souza, Children's Commissioner for England, welcomed strong action to stop phones distracting pupils and disrupting the school day. Charlotte Ashton, co-founder of campaign group Generation Focus, said 'no see, no hear' policies were not working and pupils were still 'TikToking in the toilets'. She said the aim was a point where 'it's not normal for every single child to have a personal internet-enabled device in their pockets with them 24/7'.
Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott said she was 'delighted that Labour have finally listened to us and agreed to properly ban smartphones in schools'. She also backed a review of safety standards around technology used in schools, which the government announced after calls for improved guidance, but criticised a lack of 'joined up thinking' over what new technology was being allowed in classrooms.
Education is devolved, so policy differs across the UK. Scotland's government has said it will introduce a law restricting personal phone use in schools and ran a consultation over the summer. The Senedd recently voted against a motion for a national statutory ban in Wales, where schools are still encouraged to restrict phone use, with heads retaining flexibility. In Northern Ireland, Education Minister Paul Givan launched a 12-week consultation in August on whether to ban phones in schools by law, calling for 'a stronger and more consistent approach across our education system'.