We're taking phones out of schools for good, writes Olivia Bailey MP

I know only too well that the daily negotiation over screen time can be exhausting.

It’s a concern I hear not just from parents but also from teachers.

In recent years, many schools have taken important steps to limit phone use. Open phone use in lessons is, thankfully, now a real rarity in most classrooms. But in too many schools, at lunchtime or breaktime, you’ll see clusters of children standing together in silence, each staring at their own screen.

School should be where children learn to connect with one another. Instead, too many pay more attention to their devices than to the friends standing next to them.

I don’t want phones to be on pupils’ minds at any point throughout the school day. Young people should not be rushing to get on their phones at lunchtime but rushing to socialise with their friends, or to play games outside in the fresh air.

It's why we are strengthening our guidance for schools to become phone-free environments. I mean genuinely phone-free - not just during lessons but at break times, lunch times, and in corridors too.

Nearly all schools already have policies prohibiting phones. But enforcing them is the problem – and we know that a very small minority of schools are simply not doing so, some due to the previous government's weak and unclear approach, which left headteachers without the backing they needed. We are correcting that failure.

Our guidance removes any ambiguity. Ofsted will also examine not just whether schools have a phone policy, but whether they're enforcing it. And our network of Attendance and Behaviour Hub lead schools will share practical approaches that work.

But this isn't just about schools. We’re concerned too many young people’s lives are dominated by screens. This is why the Prime Minister has launched a consultation, backed by a national conversation on children and social media – a chance to hear directly from teachers, young people, and parents about the effects they're seeing. We want to understand what's really happening and what more we can do to protect this generation. We will also be looking closely at the impact of the ban in Australia.

We will also support families by producing evidence-based screen time guidance for parents of children aged 5 to 16. And in April, we will publish the first evidence-based screen time guidance for parents of under-fives, developed with the Children's Commissioner and leading health experts.

As a parent, I know how much practical support matters. Through the Online Safety Act, we have taken some of the boldest steps anywhere in the world to protect children online. But legislation alone cannot solve this. We need a cultural shift.

Phone-free schools are part of that shift. When children arrive at the school gate, they should enter a space for learning, friendship, and growth. A space where their attention belongs to them – not to an algorithm. Where break time means actually taking a break, talking to friends, running around.

As part of our Plan for Change, we are determined to give every child the best start in life. Mobile phones have no place in our schools. Today, we're making sure headteachers have the backing to keep them out.

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Olivia Bailey is the Minister for Early Education and Equalities.

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