Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's guidance on mobile phone use among young people in schools, published in February 2024, on the use of mobile phones in schools.

​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.

New research from the Children’s Commissioner, with responses from nearly all schools and colleges in England, shows that most schools (99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools) already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.

We will continue to build a robust evidence base on the effectiveness on school mobile phone policies.

The department engages regularly with parents, teachers and pupils on a range of issues, including pupil behaviour and mobile phone use.