Make sure pupils don't ever use phones at school, Phillipson tells teachers

All schools in England should follow new government guidance and be phone-free for the entire school day, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said.

In a letter to schools seen exclusively by the BBC, she said it was "not appropriate for phones to be used as calculators, or for research during lessons", as well as during break times and lunchtime. Ofsted will be inspecting schools on the implementation of their mobile phone policies going forward, she confirmed, with teachers also being advised not to use their phones in front of pupils.

One head teachers' union said using Ofsted to "police" schools' mobile phone policies was "deeply unhelpful and misguided".

Schools were first given guidance on phones by the previous Conservative government in February 2024, but Phillipson said in her letter that it "did not deliver the clarity or consistency that schools need". She said the government had therefore "strengthened" the guidance issued last week, to make it "explicit" that pupils should not be using their phones at school.

Shadow policing minister Matt Vickers told BBC Breakfast he was "entirely supportive of us empowering headteachers to make sure that classrooms are places of learning". But Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, said the letter was "yet more guidance", which she said "doesn't represent action, it's just more delay".

Phillipson's letter to schools comes just under a week after the announcement that the government would be launching a three-month consultation on banning social media for all under-16s in the UK. The education secretary has encouraged teachers to "contribute your professional insight".

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has already said her party would introduce such a ban if it was in power.

Ofsted has issued its own advice on how it will inspect schools based on the government's guidance, external. Part of that guidance includes telling staff not to use their devices for personal reasons in front of pupils.

Recent research by the survey tool Teacher Tapp suggested 86% of primary school teachers said they were able to use their phones at school for personal use, but only during breaks, while 44% of secondary school teachers said they were allowed to use their phones freely. Only 2% of both primary and secondary teachers surveyed said their schools banned staff from using phones entirely during the school day.

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