England to ban mobile phones in schools from September 2027

England plans new regulations banning primary and secondary school students from accessing mobile phones on campus all day starting from September 2027, according to China News Network.

The new rules

The UK government stated that the signal sent by the government is very clear: campuses should be used for learning and interaction, not for scrolling through mobile phones. The government claimed that mobile phones easily distract students and hinder face-to-face communication among children.

Schools can choose their own methods of implementation, including sealed storage bags, locker storage, unified collection upon entering school, or completely banning mobile phones from entering the campus. Some schools have invested funds to purchase equipment.

Education Secretary Lucy Powell said the government's "clear message" to parents and pupils was that "school is for learning and friendship, not scrolling". Access to phones "risks pulling children away from their learning and from each other", the government said.

Reactions

The head of the school principal industry union expressed reservations about this policy direction. The head of the union stated that the implementation of the new regulations requires supporting funds. The expenditure on purchasing lock bags and storage facilities is considerable. Without government grants, it will be very difficult for schools to implement the measures.

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 he said the more robust measures recommended under the new guidance would "come at a cost".

Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the latest guidance "does at least provide some clarity", but added that school leaders "cannot simply make mobile phones disappear". "If all schools are going to be expected to have lockable pouches or other secure storage facilities for every pupil, the cost involved will be very significant indeed," he said. "This is not feasible unless the government puts in the funding required to meet these costs."

Some educational groups and the Children's Commissioner support the new regulations, believing that the existing control methods have loopholes, and some students still hide in restrooms to watch short videos. Dame Rachel de Souza, Children's Commissioner for England, said she welcomed strong action to stop phones distracting pupils and disrupting the school day.

Charlotte Ashton, co-founder of campaign group Generation Focus, similarly welcomed the changes, saying "no see, no hear" policies were not working and pupils were still "TikToking in the toilets". "Ultimately, we need to get to 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," she said.

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 said it was also the "right thing to do" to have a review of safety standards around the technology used in schools, which the government has also announced on the back of calls for improved guidance. But she criticised what she called a lack of "joined up thinking" over what new tech was being allowed in classrooms.

UK-wide context

Because education is devolved, the campus mobile phone policies in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland vary. In Scotland, the government has said it will introduce a new law to restrict the personal use of phones in schools, and launched a consultation on the issue over the summer. In Wales, the Senedd recently voted against a motion to introduce a national statutory ban on phones in classrooms. Schools are still encouraged to restrict the use of phones during the school day, but heads have flexibility over how to implement their own rules. And in Northern Ireland, Education Minister Paul Givan launched a 12-week consultation in August on whether to ban mobile phones from schools by law, calling for "a stronger and more consistent approach across our education system".

This campus mobile phone control is independent of the regulations prohibiting social media platform use by teenagers under the age of 16, which are scheduled to take effect in March next year.

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Sources

• chinanews.com.cn (in Chinese): England plans new regulations banning primary and secondary school students from accessing mobile phones on campus all day - Chinanews.com
• hirunews.lk: Phones to be banned from pupils' bags or pockets under stricter rules for schools in England - Hiru News - Srilanka's Number One News Portal, Most visited website in Sri Lanka

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