The Department for Education just toughened school phone rules and unions warn of the cost
2 days ago · 10 November 2026Share
Students are learning through video presentation guided by their teacher in a classroom. File photo. Ferichandrap · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Department for Education has just told schools in England to go further than most already do.
Phones now have to be completely out of reach, for the whole school day.
Lucy Powell, the Education Secretary, announced the strengthened guidance a few hours ago.
She says school is for learning and friendship, not scrolling.
So what is actually changing?
Right now, schools in England already have to run as what the guidance calls mobile phone-free environments by default. That rule is already in force.
But it never said how schools should enforce it.
Some schools lock phones away. Some collect them at the start of the day. Some ban them from the site completely.
Others just let pupils keep phones in their bags, switched off or silent.
That last one is the approach the government is now moving away from.
Lucy Powell says quote "Children should not be using smartphones at any point during the school day, full stop".
She wants schools to go fully phone-free. Lockable pouches, or secure storage, so phones are out of reach, not just switched off.
So why now?
Because the current rule is not working.
A DfE survey in June asked secondary school pupils if phone rules are followed all of the time. Only 16% said yes.
That is the government's own survey showing a big enforcement gap.
And here's the catch. None of this lands straight away.
The rest of this story is for members.
Galashiels Academy secondary school in Scottish Borders, Scotland, UK. File photo. Victuallers · CC BY-SA 4.0
The guidance only comes into force from September 2027.
The opposition backs it. Laura Trott, the Shadow Education Secretary, says Labour has finally listened to the Conservatives and agreed to properly restrict smartphones in schools.
That's a Conservative frontbencher crediting her own side's pressure for Labour's move.
But headteachers' unions are warning this costs money schools do not have.
Paul Whiteman leads the NAHT, the school leaders' union. He says stronger measures come at a cost, and schools will need extra funding to deliver them.
Pepe Di'Iasio leads the Association of School and College Leaders. He says the cost of buying lockable pouches for every pupil would be very significant.
Neither union has been told how, or whether, that cost gets covered.
Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children's Commissioner for England, has welcomed the move. She says it will stop phones getting in the way of lessons and school life.
There's more alongside this. The government is also opening a consultation on independent safety certification for EdTech used in schools.
And separately, more than 150 clinicians have warned of a crisis in children's physical and developmental health linked to screen-based learning.
One more thing worth knowing. Education is devolved.
So this guidance covers England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own rules, and none of them are covered by this announcement.
So what's not settled?
Whether schools get the money they say they need. And what happens between now and September 2027, while the current, loosely enforced rule stays exactly as it is.
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