Phones to be banned from pupils’ bags and pockets in England’s schools
Pupils in England will not be allowed to have mobile phones on them at all during the school day under tightened government guidance taking effect in September 2027, going beyond the “no see, no hear” rules many schools run now. “School is for learning and friendship, not scrolling,” said Lucy Powell, the education secretary. Heads welcomed the clarity but warned that lockable pouches or storage for every pupil would carry a cost that is “not feasible unless the government puts in the funding required”.
Statutory guidance in force since June already makes schools legally responsible for being phone-free through the day; the change removes the loophole that lets a phone stay silent in a bag. Schools will choose the method — pouches, lockers, collection at the gate or an outright ban on bringing devices — and the government says phones risk “pulling children away from their learning and from each other”. Paul Whiteman of the NAHT called phones an “unhelpful distraction” that raises “safety issues” but said the measures “come at a cost”; the ASCL’s Pepe Di’Iasio said leaders “cannot simply make mobile phones disappear” and that the bill for secure storage “will be very significant indeed”. A parents’ campaigner warned pupils would still be “TikToking in the toilets”. The Conservatives’ Laura Trott said she was “delighted that Labour have finally listened to us”. The policy sits beside the under-16 social media ban due in March, and England now moves ahead of Wales, where the Senedd rejected a statutory ban, while Scotland legislates and Northern Ireland consults. The announcement rests on one outlet’s overnight report; watch for the Department for Education’s published guidance and the funding question.