Mobile Phones in Schools

Baroness Cash Excerpts

Wednesday 11th November 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Cash (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for the Statement, which we on these Benches wholeheartedly welcome. The statutory guidance for schools is to be updated, so that from September 2027 schools must act to ensure that

“children cannot have unsecured mobile phones in their blazer or bag throughout the school day”.

The road to get here may have been somewhat longer and more tortured by late nights in Division Lobbies than desired by the majority in this House, but it is always to be celebrated when we achieve consensus in the end.

I would like to take a moment to pay tribute to my noble friend Lady Barran, who led on this issue in your Lordships’ House, despite the then Secretary of State, the right honourable Bridget Phillipson, calling a phone ban a “headline-grabbing gimmick”. In June last year, my noble friend tabled an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to ask for exactly what has now been announced. In February, this House agreed to that by 178 votes to 140. The noble Baronesses, Lady Kidron and Lady Cass, and the noble Lord, Lord Hampton, put their names to it. Peers across the House voted for it. In the other place, my right honourable friend Laura Trott pressed the case at every stage. I put on the record my thanks to them all.

It is such a positive change of heart for the benefit of children that I find myself in joyous agreement with the Secretary of State, Lucy Powell—a line you may not always hear me utter—who said yesterday:

“Children should not be using smartphones at any point during the school day, full stop”.


Amen. But the stronger guidance will not apply until September 2027, so pupils taking GCSEs this year will still have the grade-lowering distraction of their phones. Can the Minister please tell us why on earth the guidance cannot take effect more urgently?

While I of course welcome the Government’s consultation into independent safety certification for educational technology, the Statement is completely silent on the real issue: there is insufficient evidence to prove that educational technology improves educational outcomes at all, and growing, serious evidence to indicate the very opposite, that it can be a real detriment to learning. The evidence and the warnings are here now, yet the Statement is silent on the need to reduce time spent on screens in classrooms, and on the known damage of edtech already. Even on the Labour Benches in the other place, the concerns were being cited. The Minister, Josh MacAlister, warned that

“where technology has been left to let rip”

in other countries, it

“has displaced books, reading, writing”.—[Official Report, Commons, 10/11/26; col. 61.]

The Labour MP Alistair Strathern told the House that generative AI threatens to harm

“children’s learning in the same way that smartphones did”.—[Official Report, Commons, 10/11/26; col. 63.]

Be under no illusions that children having access to screens in any context in schools is going to facilitate both. In September, the OECD reported that pupils who use AI for tasks such as summarising texts score lower in science on average. A study of almost 1,000 secondary pupils found that those who practised maths with a chatbot scored 17% lower when they were tested without it.

The neuroscientist Dr Jared Cooney Horvath, whose book The Digital Delusion is essential reading on this subject and has just been published in the UK, told the United States Senate in January that this is the first modern generation to score lower than its parents on core cognitive skills. His review of almost 400 meta-analyses found that pupils read with less understanding on screens than on paper, and that the effect of edtech on disadvantaged pupils is the greatest of all. He reported that pupils on classroom devices can be off task, though they appear to be on their screens, for up to 38 minutes in every hour. Having teachers in my family, I know exactly how challenging that is, because they talk about it. Sweden has already reversed course and is spending heavily to put printed books back in its classrooms.

According to Dr Horvath’s analysis of PISA data for England since 2012, which is available on his Substack, independent schools, which sharply and more rapidly increased their use of classroom technology, found that their pupils’ results fell back, including once background is taken into account. State schools used far less technology, and their pupils’ results rose. I know the Minister shares my concern and real desire to see all our pupils do their very best and achieve their potential, and I know she will take seriously this mounting body of evidence that we must put the brakes on the use of edtech. But at the moment the department is going ahead with developing AI tutors for up to 450,000 disadvantaged pupils, the very children who most need a good teacher in front of them. The certification scheme announced yesterday has no timetable, and the department says it has no power to require schools to use it. As proposed, it would test safety but leave out whether a product actually helps children to learn.

On phones, this House gave warnings and the Government took two years to act. On edtech and AI, the warnings are being given here tonight, on the record. Will the Minister confirm that the AI tutoring programme will go no further than the Education Endowment Foundation trials until those trials report, and that certification will be compulsory and will test learning as well as safety? Will the Minister meet Peers from all Benches in this House who have raised these concerns before the consultation closes, so that this time we can get more quickly to the right answer for British children?

[Lord Mohammed of Tinsley (LD)]

My Lords, I welcome the Government’s announcement and, in particular, their recognition that schools must be places where children can concentrate, learn and develop relationships without the constant distraction of mobile phones.

However, I hope the Minister will forgive me for pointing out that the Government have taken rather a long time to arrive at this position. It was rightly pointed out that it was the Opposition Benches in your Lordships’ House who consistently pressed for schools to become phone-free environments. I notice that the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, is in her place. We spent many a time meeting with parents, head teachers and other campaigners.

During the passage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act, we pushed the Government to put their guidance on a statutory footing, despite their initial reluctance. We argued that the voluntary guidance was insufficient and that head teachers needed clarity and consistency, and I am pleased that the Government have finally recognised the strength of that argument.

The stats presented underline why further action is necessary. Only 16% of secondary school pupils say that mobile phone rules are followed all the time. More strikingly, where schools operate a “not seen, not heard” policy, only 20% of school leaders report consistent compliance, compared with 74% where phones are collected. That is compelling evidence that the existing approach is not working.

However, announcing stronger guidance is one thing; giving schools the resources to implement it is quite another. The Government have suggested that schools can choose between collecting phones, secure lockers or lockable pouches—but these approaches all have financial and practical implications. The Education Committee has highlighted that purchasing pouches alone can cost a secondary school around £20,000. We all know that school budgets are under enormous pressure, and we cannot expect head teachers to absorb yet another unfunded responsibility. Can the Minister therefore explain why the Government are not providing dedicated funding to support schools with implementation? Will they commit to ensuring that no school is disadvantaged because it cannot afford the necessary equipment?

Secondly, I welcome the Government’s recognition that exemptions and reasonable adjustments will be necessary for children with medical and special educational needs and disabilities. For some children, a mobile phone is not simply a distraction; it is an essential tool for managing a medical condition, communicating or accessing support. I am also particularly concerned about young carers, who may need to check on a sick, disabled or vulnerable family member during the school day. Will the Minister give an explicit assurance that young carers will be included in the exemptions alongside children with SEND and medical needs, and that these arrangements will be straightforward rather than creating additional barriers for vulnerable pupils?

Finally, I strongly support the principle that head teachers should have the flexibility to decide how best to implement a phone-free environment in their schools. Schools have different circumstances, communities and practical challenges. A one-size-fits-all approach to enforcement will not necessarily work. Flexibility must be matched with resources, clear guidance and proper support. Will the Minister commit to working directly with school leaders and representative organisations to ensure that the revised guidance is practical and properly funded, and does not simply transfer additional costs on to already stretched schools and parents?

Our children deserve classrooms where they can concentrate, learn and enjoy their childhood without the pressures of smartphones and social media. We on these Benches have been campaigning for this change for a long time and we welcome the Government finally moving in the right direction. But we must now ensure that this policy works in practice for every school and every child. I look forward to the Minister’s response.