Mobile phone use to be banned in schools in England

The headline announcement from Education Secretary Gillian Keegan is currently non-mandaory, though. However, if schools fail to implement the new guidance, the government will consider legislating in the future to make the guidance statutory.

The announcement – which can be read on the DfE webiste at the link below – makes the point that other countries have similar bans in place and follows warnings from the United Nations on the risks of smartphones in schools.

According to Teacher Tapp smart phones are already banned in many schools: “Nearly three-quarters of primary schools collect phones at the start of the school day. In secondary schools rules have become stricter. In 2018, less than half of secondary teachers said phones weren’t to be used under any circumstance. Fast forward to 2022 and this figure has risen to 60%.”