The government has announced new measures to make phone prohibitions in English schools legally binding.
The Department for Education confirmed plans to update its major Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to transform existing recommendations into statutory requirements.
Currently, the department advises schools to implement such bans, though headteachers retain discretion to deviate from this guidance if they choose to do so.
According to officials, the position has long been that mobile phones do not belong in educational settings, and most institutions have already introduced restrictions.
The proposed amendment would elevate current guidance to legal status, formalising practices already prevalent across schools.
This change builds upon recent efforts to improve compliance, with Ofsted now incorporating schools’ mobile phone policies into its inspection framework beginning this month.
The Education Secretary has previously corresponded with headteachers across England emphasising that institutions should maintain phone-free environments throughout the school day.
Until now, guidance issued to schools regarding mobile phones has carried no legal force.
The NASUWT teaching union has publicly endorsed moves towards a legally mandated school phone prohibition.
According to Guardian reporting from April 2025, the overwhelming majority of English schools had already prohibited mobile phone usage.
Research encompassing more than 15,000 educational institutions revealed that 99.8 percent of primary schools and 90 percent of secondary schools maintain some level of restriction.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, the country’s largest education union, stated at the time that he personally believed a legally enforceable prohibition would receive his backing, suggesting it would reduce burdens on school leaders, educators and parents alike. He indicated that Britain requires urgent discussion about mobile phone usage, online dangers and the harmful effects technology has on children.