School phone ban in England to cover pupils' bags and pockets from September 2027
Ministers are tightening the guidance so that keeping a phone out of sight is no longer enough. Head teachers' unions say the change will cost money.
Pupils at schools in England will not be allowed to carry their phones at all during the school day from September 2027, under a stricter version of the Department for Education's guidance announced on Monday night.
Statutory guidance already requires schools to be phone-free throughout the day. But some have been running "no see, no hear" rules, where a pupil can keep a phone in a bag or pocket as long as it is not seen or heard. The revised guidance, which has been announced but not yet published, will end that approach.
Schools will still choose how to do it. The department pointed to schools that already use lockable pouches or secure storage, collect phones when pupils arrive, or ban them from the site altogether.
Education Secretary Lucy Powell said the government's message to parents and pupils was that school was for learning and friendship, not scrolling. The government said access to phones during the day risked pulling children away from their lessons and from each other.
The cost question
The two main head teachers' unions, the NAHT and the Association of School and College Leaders, both said stricter measures would come at a price. ASCL said that buying lockable pouches or storage for every pupil in every school would cost a very significant amount and was not feasible without extra government funding.
Alongside the phone changes, the government is looking at safety standards for the technology that pupils use in classrooms.
The rules apply to England only, as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own education policy.
