Schools in England should be phone-free throughout the entire school day, with pupils not permitted to use mobile devices even as calculators or for research, education secretary Bridget Phillipson has said.
Phillipson has written to headteachers to underline updated government guidance issued last week, according to the BBC.
In her letter, she stressed that school policies on mobile phone use must be applied consistently across all classes and at all times, and said parents should support these measures. Teachers were also advised not to use their phones in front of pupils.
She said Ofsted, the schools watchdog, would inspect how schools are implementing the policy, while the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said it would take immediate action on children’s social media use.
The updated guidance states that pupils “should not have access to their devices during lessons, break times, lunchtimes or between lessons”.
DSIT data shows that 99.9% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools already have mobile phone policies in place. However, 58% of secondary school pupils reported that phones were used without permission in some lessons, rising to 65% among key stage four pupils.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, told the BBC that school leaders “need support from government, not the threat of heavy-handed inspection”.
The move comes as ministers consult on introducing an Australian-style social media ban for under-16s in the UK. Options under consideration include raising the digital age of consent and restricting potentially addictive app design features such as “streaks” and “infinite scrolling”.
Ministers are expected to visit Australia, where a social media ban came into force in December. The government will seek views from parents and young people and is due to respond in the summer, according to DSIT.
Last week, the House of Lords backed a Conservative-led amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill proposing such a ban, despite the government not supporting it. While ministers’ plans to bring forward legislation mean the amendment is unlikely to survive in the Commons, its passage in the upper chamber has increased pressure on the prime minister to act more quickly. Keir Starmer is understood to want to wait for evidence from Australia’s ban.
