Phones to be banned in schools by law in England, government says

The government has said it will introduce a legal ban on smartphones in schools in England.

Education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith told the House of Lords on Monday that the government would table an amendment to its landmark Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill "creating a clear legal requirement for schools" on the matter.

The Department for Education (DfE) said the move would give "legal force to what schools are already doing in practice".

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson had written to schools in January encouraging them to follow new guidance that schools be phone-free for the entire day.

Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott said the amendment was "fantastic news for head teachers, parents and pupils across the country".

"For over a year, Labour dismissed this as an unnecessary gimmick, and just last week the education minister claimed the problem had already been solved," she wrote on X.

"I'm glad they've now listened, this is the right step for improving behaviour and raising attainment in our classrooms."

The DfE said it had been "consistently clear that mobile phones have no place in schools" and that the majority already prohibit them.

A spokesperson said the amendment "builds on the steps we've already taken to strengthen enforcement".

Ofsted inspections would be monitoring schools' mobile phone policies from April, they added.

"We will always put children's interests first, including through this Bill – which is widely recognised as the biggest piece of child safeguarding legislation in decades."

Other measures in the Bill include a register of children not in school, to provide additional protection for children who are being educated out of sight of the authorities.

The Bill had been stuck between the House of Commons and the Lords because of the phones issue, after the Lords voted in favour of a Conservative amendment calling for them to be banned in February.

At the time, Phillipson had recently written a letter to all schools in England saying it was "not appropriate for phones to be used as calculators, or for research during lessons", as well as during break times and lunchtime.

On Monday, Baroness Smith told the Lords that ministers "recognise the strength of feeling on this issue, both in this House and beyond".

She added: "Notwithstanding the fact that we think the guidance we already have in place provides headteachers and schools with a range of approaches to be able to deliver the objective that we all share, we are committing to tabling an amendment in lieu which will place the existing guidance on a statutory footing on the face of the Bill, creating a clear legal requirement for schools."