Mobile Phones in Schools

Mike Martin Excerpts

Tuesday 10th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Josh MacAlister]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the challenges in some of these debates, but I think headteachers are in an incredibly good position to make these judgment calls for their school community. They do not do that lightly; they often do it in deep collaboration with parents and the wider school community. I have been to schools that have completely banned mobile phones, including on the way to and from the school. In some places, there will be reasons why that is not appropriate—we have heard from some Members about public transport options—but I do think it is down to headteachers to make those decisions. They of course have the best interests of children at heart, and they can see the impact some of these measures have on children in their school.

[Mike Martin (Tunbridge Wells) (LD)]

I am proud to say that we are ahead of the game in Tunbridge Wells. When the Government failed to pass the legislation originally, its secondary schools got together, agreed a shared policy and implemented it. The policy was to have no smartphones on the school grounds, which therefore means pupils will not be taking smartphones on buses either. Dumbphones can be carried for the purposes of safety if necessary, but they have to be switched off during the school day. That was rolled out this September, the feedback is good and it seems very successful. Have the Government considered this as an option?

[Josh MacAlister]

We are aware of that option being available to schools, and I know of some schools that have taken that approach. Part of the reason why we are making this announcement this week, with sufficient time ahead of implementation of updated guidance for September next year, is to extract the best learning from existing practice in the school system, including the school referenced by the hon. Member. We want to make sure that the way in which this is described allows for the best existing practice that has been developed, including the use of what are sometimes called dumbphones.