Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's guidance entitled Mobile phones in schools, published on 19 February 2024, on (a) schools, (b) pupils and (c) learning.

During the development of the ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance, the department consulted headteachers from across the sector to learn from their experience of implementing effective policies that prohibited the use of mobile phones in their schools.

Headteachers and leaders, including those involved in the Behaviour Hubs programme, reported that after removing mobile phones from the school day, the whole culture of their school changed for the better. This feedback supports an assessment that the guidance is likely to support schools to create environments that are safer places for pupils, where the distraction caused by the use of mobile phones is reduced, and that have a positive impact on learning.

Stakeholder engagement with young people, parents and representative bodies ensured the department could make an assessment of the impact of the guidance on individual pupils. Stakeholder engagement informed the development of the guidance regarding adaptations and reasonable adjustments for specific pupils and the use of mobile phones on the way to and from school.