Exploring phone-free schools

What's the difference between phone bans versus phone-free schools? Does it have a positive impact on learning and behaviour? And how do students stand to benefit?

Image courtesy of BETT

Ledetta Asfa-Wossen

19 February 2026

Phone bans and phone-free schools were a hot-topic both on and off the stage at this year’s BETT show – a conference that spotlights innovations in education and technology.In January, the UK’s Department of Education (DfE) updated its non-statutory guidance that all schools should be phone-free environments by default. Soon after, the House of Lords backed a ban on students using phones during the school day and debates both for and against continue.A survey of UK schools shows that 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools have some form of limit or restriction on phones in place. However, the real challenge is turning policy into meaningful change for teachers, students, parents and the wider school community.An insightful panel focused on outcomes discussed what happens when schools go beyond policy to implement well-structured phone-free programmes and explored the benefits, complexities, and community effort required for them to succeed.

Phone ban versus phone-free

Addressing a packed arena, the panel elaborated on phone ban versus phone-free and if there is a difference.“There is a difference. You see many countries that just implement a phone ban which means nothing more sophisticated. It’s about the child not letting their phone be seen, so it's in their bag. The danger of that is that it puts a lot of pressure on the child to not resist that addiction. The other thing it creates is conflict. In Greece for example, the rule was that you suspend a child if their phone is seen,” explained former minister of state for education, Sir Nick Gibb.“What I’ve seen in some parts of the world, like New York and Texas for example, is an approach where they say the school environment from bell to bell should be phone free. They’re either collecting them and giving them back in the school day, or putting them in a lockable pouch so they cannot be accessed. It needs to be something more sophisticated than a simple phone ban that leads to this conflict.”Emma Mills, director of education at One Community Trust – a group of eight schools has experience of implementing a phone-free environment having tried different methods.“We used an out of sight policy for years and years and we did have a huge problem with phones in schools. It wasn’t that things were happening in the classroom and phones were out all the time, we were just very aware that pupils were still thinking about their phones. Taking them in the toilets at lunchtime, or hiding around the corner to have a sneaky peak. It was also that their attention just wasn’t 100% in the classroom.”However Mills suggests the flaw was in the policy, not the pupils. “If someone said to me, put your phone in your pocket all day but no matter what sounds it makes you’re not allowed to look at it – I couldn’t do it. These are children with a really addictive device and they deserve to be free from that. They deserve to be able to enjoy their childhood. They deserve to be able to fully engage in their education. So it was really important to us that we went phone-free.”Gibb spoke on the need for policy to be better thought through so there was no pressure or punishment placed on the child. He added it was an issue of equity too, needing to protect those who may be more vulnerable to addiction and to allow all students to flourish.While he welcomed the DfE’s updated phone-free guidance, he expressed the need to go further and legislate in a more structured and intentional way that supports headteachers to enforce it and to help with any resistance from parents or students.

Nurturing a phone-free culture

According to Mills, their chosen approach to creating a phone-free school environment has been to keep it simple as possible.Students get a Yondr pouch that they keep for five years and take home with them. When they come in each morning, they meet staff at the gate and put their phone in the pouch which clicks shut and is kept with them. When the school day finishes, pupils simply unclip their phone on an unlocking base and they’ve got it back to use on their way home.“It's a really simple and easy structure – the biggest part is the build up to doing it and really making children understand why we’re doing it. You want to create a culture that helps them understand the benefits of it and not see it as just something that’s being done to them,” added Mills.She knows the benefits of going phone-free well and shared some evidence and reflections of her school’s journey so far, from freeing up teachers to reducing student stress.“It has improved every single aspect of school. When we went phone-free I was doing it from a sort of moral point of view, to help children see they could live without phones and for them to be fully immersed in school. I did not anticipate the level of improvements that we made.”

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Enhancing learning and behaviour

Reeling off a number of positive anecdotes, Mill describes that in one year the school group managed to reduce safeguarding incidents around mobile phones and social media by 81%. Going from 246 incidents down to 48 incidents.“We also saw a 94% reduction in our behaviour incidents that were connected to phones as well and that was directly connected to going phone-free.”Mills shared examples of the beneficial impact on learning and performance too, not just on relationships and wellbeing.“Our exam results went up too. English and Maths in one year went up by 17% and our attainment 8 went up too, especially for disadvantaged pupils. At breaks and lunch things are so much easier. Children are talking, playing and interacting with each other. 100% of students in a school of 1,000 go to enrichment clubs on a Monday and Tuesday lunchtime. It’s so much more than putting a phone in a pouch – it’s the culture that it creates.”Graham Dugoni, phone-free advocate and founder and CEO of Yondr, eludes there is even more to be gained from students disconnecting at school.“We’ve been helping schools become phone-free for 12 years and the zeitgeist around the subject globally has changed immensely during that time. Every person, young and old, is wrestling with this question around the role of technology in their lives.”Dugoni highlighted the importance of constructive and positive language when instilling a phone-free culture in schools that doesn’t chide young people or treat it as punishment.“It’s not a punitive thing. We’re not taking something away from students – we’re giving them something back,” he added.“I see phone-free schools as a foundational building block for all the other things you want to see happen in a school – from academic performance to reduction in disciplinary issues. But, it’s about this kind of hidden curriculum too. Things like body language, eye contact, the ability to think critically and not be tempted to just use the internet for everything every two seconds.”

Free roaming

In many ways it’s about freedom, relief and room to be more vulnerable. “Once you create a phone-free learning environment and once students know they’re all in it together they’re kind of forced to take risks which is an inherent part of learning,” said Dugoni.“It’s difficult to take risks, step out on a limb, or do a presentation if you’re worried about being filmed and posted on the internet at any point in time. Another example, in the US, is school proms. Nobody dances anymore – they’re all afraid of being filmed and recorded.”Dugoni added that some unexpected benefits for schools going phone-free have been things “springing back to life” as he put it.“Clubs are coming back, pupils playing sports at lunch time instead of scrolling, reductions in fights and making eye contact in the hallways,” he added.Gibb gave examples of schools that have seen increases in academic results and mental wellbeing, as well as a reduction in truancy and threats. He added that more lunches were being eaten too, with students feeling free to do so in public without being filmed or mocked.Adding to this, Mills shared feedback from students who stated they felt like a massive pressure had been taken off them.“They don’t have to respond to chats or keep up with trends. They can concentrate and feel less overwhelmed. 90% of our students said they would not go back to having phones and no pouches because they enjoy school so much more.”It’s about building a cultural shift in school. Giving students a sense of freedom, discovery and exploration, added Dugoni. “I think young people need that. They need that primary, unfiltered interaction and adventure.”

Did you know?

UNESCO estimates 1 in 4 countries worldwide now have school phone bans in place including France, The Netherlands, Denmark and Italy.

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