Schools in England will be told to go beyond "not seen, not heard" phone policies and make sure pupils cannot use or reach their smartphones at any point during the school day, under strengthened government guidance announced on Monday, 9 November 2026.

The Department for Education said revised statutory guidance on mobile phones in schools will be implemented from September 2027, with schools encouraged to move sooner where possible. The change is the next step in the government's drive towards what it calls truly phone-free schools.

What will change

Current statutory guidance, which schools in England have had to take into account since September 2026, already says schools should be mobile phone-free by default. But it leaves headteachers to decide how to achieve that, and in many schools phones are simply kept switched off in pupils' bags.

The strengthened guidance will make clear that schools should go further than that. The Department for Education said schools should adopt whole-school strategies that keep phones out of use and inaccessible throughout the school day. That could mean lockable pouches, collecting phones at the start of the day, secure storage, or banning phones from the school site altogether.

Education Secretary Lucy Powell said: "Children should not be using smartphones at any point during the school day, full stop. That's why we're strengthening our guidance to take the next leap towards truly phone-free schools."

Guidance, not a new law

The change is a tightening of guidance rather than a new legal ban. Schools are already under a legal duty to have regard to the Department for Education's mobile phone guidance, under the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, but the new wording will encourage rather than compel schools to use pouches or collection systems.

Teaching unions have warned that schools will need extra funding to introduce tougher phone policies, for example to buy pouches or lockers. The Department for Education's announcement did not mention additional funding for the change.

Many schools already collect phones

Data from Teacher Tapp suggests the shift is already under way. In September, 39 per cent of secondary schools reported using mandatory collection policies for phones, up from 19 per cent in 2025.

The government says the aim is to cut distraction in lessons and give pupils a break from screens and social media during the day. Ministers argue that early phone use is linked to poorer concentration and less time spent socialising in person, and that a clear whole-school approach works better than rules that rely on pupils keeping phones hidden in their bags.

The revised guidance applies to schools in England. Education policy is devolved, so schools in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland follow their own rules. The full wording of the new guidance has not yet been published, and the Department for Education is expected to set it out ahead of the September 2027 start date.