- Majority of schools have policies in place to stop mobile phone use during the school day, major new survey shows for the first time
- Yet online safety still the second most cited concern for school leaders – from a survey of nearly 19,000 schools and colleges
- Comes as new polling shows nearly a quarter of children spend more than four hours a day using a device
- Children’s Commissioner calls for stronger action to protect children from harmful content online beyond the classroom
The vast majority of schools in England have policies in place that stop children using their phones during the school day, a major new survey shows.
The first data from the Children’s Commissioner’s School and College Survey reveals 90% of secondary schools and 99.8% of primary schools already have policies in place that stop the use of mobile phones during the school day – yet online safety was among the most cited issue of concern for school leaders for children in their communities, second only to mental health services.
The findings prove that most schools already have phone policies aligned with the Department for Education’s non-statutory guidance but highlight the need for a whole-society approach to strengthening safety online to keep children safe outside of the school gates.
Alongside these findings from schools, a new nationally representative poll of children in England aged eight to 15 also found that 25% spend two to three hours a day using an internet-enabled device such as a computer, smartphone, tablet or gaming console, while 23% spend more than four hours a day on such a device.
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said:
“Any headteacher who decides to ban mobile phones from their school has my full backing – but it should always be their choice, based on their knowledge of what’s best for the children in their own classrooms, not a direction imposed nationally by the government.
“What this new data shows is that the vast majority of headteachers are already taking decisions to restrict phone use in their schools – either by banning them completely from school grounds, requiring them to be handed in on arrival, or to be kept out of sight.
“Yet these same school leaders have also told me in the same survey that online safety is one of their biggest worries for children in their communities – because they know that banning phones during school hours will not keep those same children safe when they go home for the day. The quarter of children I polled who spend more than four hours on their devices per day aren’t doing that while at school.
“This is a generation that has grown up online, not only seeing and using smartphones and 24-hour communication, but seeing all the adults in their lives relying on them. If we are serious about helping children reap the many benefits of the internet, we need to get serious about regulating what they can see, where they see it and curbing the damage currently being wreaked on their health, attention span and safety by tech companies enjoying unlimited freedoms while refusing to take responsibility for the people on their platforms.
“Schools are just one part of the solution. Parents and carers need support to become more confident managing their children’s online activities and putting in age-appropriate boundaries – and above all, to talk and keep talking at home about what they see and how to respond.”
Using her statutory powers for the first time to conduct the largest-ever survey of schools and colleges, the Children’s Commissioner’s data includes responses from 19,000 schools – representing nearly 90% of all schools in England.
It provides the most comprehensive evidence to date on mobile phone policies in schools and exemptions for children with additional needs, revealing the detail of policies being used in schools across England. The vast majority of schools are taking steps to restrict phone use during the school day:
- Most schools (90% of secondary and 99.8% of primary schools) had a mobile phone policy limiting students’ use of mobile phones during school hours, in line with the Department for Education’s non-statutory guidance. This includes the three ‘most restrictive’ policies: not allowing mobile phones onto school grounds, requiring children to hand in phones or leave them in a secure place they cannot access during the school day, or requiring them to be kept out of sight.
- Secondary schools were more likely to allow some phone use. Around 10% allowed pupils to use their phone at some point during the school day, such as during breaks or lunchtime.
- One in five primary schools (21%) completely ban pupils from bringing phones to school, compared with only 3.5% of secondary schools.
- Secondary schools reporting higher concerns about behaviour tended to enforce stricter phone policies, while concerns over online safety do not appear to influence policy strictness in the same way.
- Exceptions are made for children made for children with additional needs. 34% of secondary schools made no exceptions compared to 74% of primary schools. Medical needs were the most common reason for exemptions.
While mobile phone policies can help reduce distractions, improve behaviour, and maintain children’s focus, the report outlines concerns about children’s online safety that extend beyond the classroom. It supports what children have themselves told the Children’s Commissioner over the past four years: that they want stronger action on online safety because they are seeing harmful and inappropriate content without being able to get it removed. They have told the Commissioner that current measures being implemented by government have little to no impact on their day-to-day experiences of being online.
Previous research by the Children’s Commissioner found that 45% of children aged between eight and 17 had seen or experienced harmful content online, including anonymous trolling, sexualised, violent or gory content and pornography. In The Big Ambition survey in 2024, children said they wanted apps to be less addictive and less harmful to their mental health.
Dame Rachel de Souza said:
“Action to take children’s safety online is long overdue – and the pace of regulation has been far outstripped by the speed at which technology has developed. The Online Safety Act remains the strongest mechanism we have to protect children from online harms, but its implementation must be ambitious and far-reaching.
“It must deliver on its full potential – holding technology companies to account and making the digital world a safer place for children by design.”
