Smartphones in schools: Practice, policy and international perspectives

Approximate read time: 5 minutes

1. Smartphone ownership and school policies

An Ofcom survey found that 26 percent of five to seven-year-olds, 61 percent of eight- to 11-year-olds and 96 percent of 12- to 15-year-olds in the UK owned a mobile phone in 2023.^[1]

It is the responsibility of individual schools to determine whether mobile phones are allowed on school premises. In April 2025, the Children’s Commissioner surveyed 12,730 state-funded primary schools and 2,467 secondary schools in England about their mobile phone policies.^[2] It found that nearly all primary schools (99.8 percent) and secondary schools (90 percent) had policies that restricted phone use.

The survey highlighted that the types of policies implemented by primary and secondary schools had “varied”, with primary schools limiting usage more than secondary schools:

• One in five primary schools (21 percent) prohibited pupils from bringing their mobile phones to school at all, compared with 3.5 percent of secondary schools.
• The most common primary school approach (76 percent) required students to hand in phones or to leave them in a secure place so that they could not be accessed.
• Over three-quarters of secondary schools (79 percent) allowed phones on site but required them to remain out of sight and not be used.^[3]

Research has shown that excessive mobile phone use in children is linked to sleep disturbances, reduced attention spans, increased anxiety and exposure to harmful online content. However, there are also some positive links to smartphone use, including the facilitation of social connections, access to educational resources, entertainment and mental health information.^[4]

2. Recent government policy

In recent years, successive UK governments have discussed various approaches to prohibiting mobile phone use in schools. In 2019, the Conservative government’s schools minister, Nick Gibb, proposed introducing national restrictions on phone use.^[5] In 2021, then education secretary Gavin Williamson also favoured a ban, arguing that “mobile phones should not be used or seen during the school day”.^[6]

By February 2022, the Department for Education (DfE) judged that formal rules were unnecessary since most schools had already enforced bans.^[7] Subsequently, in February 2024, the DfE published non-statutory guidance on mobile phones in schools in England, calling on school leaders to “develop and implement a policy to prohibit the use of mobile phones and other similar devices which reflects their school’s individual contexts and needs”.^[8]

The Labour government endorsed this approach in October 2024.^[9] Then education minister Stephen Morgan highlighted concerns about classroom disruption, online bullying, and the impact of excessive screen time on learning and wellbeing. However, he stated that that it was the “longstanding policy of successive governments” that “headteachers remain responsible for deciding how they choose to implement this policy, including choosing to prohibit children from bringing mobile phones on site entirely”.

In July 2025, the then minister reaffirmed this position.^[10] In response to a written question on the subject, Mr Morgan stated that:

Mobile phones have no place in our schools. Schools should prohibit the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime, as set out in the ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance, published in 2024. The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.

In Scotland, non-statutory guidance published in August 2024 outlined that a national mobile phone ban for children in schools was not “appropriate or feasible”, leaving schools and local councils to introduce restrictions if considered necessary.^[11] In Northern Ireland, the Department of Education published guidance in September 2024 recommending that pupils avoid phone use during school hours and that primary school pupils should not bring them on to school premises.^[12] Wales does not have recent guidance on the subject, with the latest for secondary schools published in 2010.^[13] That guidance noted that “almost all schools have policies that prohibit the use of personal mobile phones during lessons” and recommended that “guidelines should be enforced consistently by all school staff, and supported by the school leadership team”. Further, in response to an oral question on the subject in November 2024, the cabinet secretary for education, Lynne Neagle, said that schools were “able to ban mobile phones in schools if they want to, and indeed, most schools don’t permit the use of mobile phones in the classroom”.^[14]

3. International examples of smartphone restrictions in schools

The latest data collected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), a specialised UN agency that monitors global education policies, found that 79 education systems—approximately 40 percent globally—had either implemented or were preparing to implement smartphone bans as of the end of 2024.^[15] These education systems operate at varying levels of governance, including federal, regional and state jurisdictions. Several examples of laws or policies implemented by individual countries to ban smartphones in schools are as follows:

• Africa: In Burkina Faso, a 2018 order prohibits the use of mobile phones and accessories in secondary schools, with confiscated equipment held until the school year ends.^[16] Guinea followed in 2021 by banning smartphones and all internet-connected devices in schools.^[17]
• North America: Mexico, Ontario in Canada and various US states have imposed full or partial bans.^[18] Examples include California’s Phone-Free School Act and Indiana’s ban on students using portable wireless devices.^[19]
• Asia: In Bangladesh, mobile phones were initially banned for teachers whilst in classrooms, with an extension applying the ban to both students and teachers in schools and colleges coming into effect in 2017.^[20]
• Australia: In several Australian states, such as New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria, public schools have introduced bans on mobile phones and wearable devices during school hours, with limited exemptions for health needs or teacher-approved activities.^[21]
• Europe: France has banned smartphones, except for “pedagogical” or accessibility purposes.^[22] Additionally, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland have imposed full or partial bans in schools.^[23]

4. Read more

• House of Lords Library, ‘Mobile phones in schools: Mandating a ban?’, 21 November 2024
• House of Commons Library, ‘The impact of smartphones and social media on children’, 13 May 2024

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Cover image by Freepik.