41% of secondary teachers in England say schools are changing mobile phone policies for September

Teacher Tapp data from 6,873 teachers shows policy changes are substantially more common in secondary schools following new guidance calling for schools in England to be mobile phone-free by default

Teacher Tapp found that 41% of secondary teachers in England say their school is changing its mobile phone policy for the new academic year

More than four in ten secondary teachers in England say their school is changing its mobile phone policy for the new academic year, as schools respond to government guidance that sets phone-free environments as the default.

Teacher Tapp found that 41% of secondary teachers reported a policy change was planned, compared with 13% of primary teachers. A further 6% of secondary and 5% of primary respondents said their school was actively considering a change.

The findings are based on responses from 6,873 teachers on August 14, 2026, including 4,727 secondary and 2,146 primary teachers, with results weighted to reflect teacher and school demographics.

They offer an early indication of how schools in England are translating new mobile phone guidance into practice. The guidance came into force on June 29 and states that schools should be “mobile phone-free environments by default” and that “anything other than this should be by exception only.”

The scale of reported change differs sharply between phases. While 82% of primary teachers said their school was not planning a change, that fell to 54% among secondary teachers.

That partly reflects where policies were starting from. Teacher Tapp's previous data, collected in September 2025, shows primary schools were already much more likely to physically separate students from their phones during the school day.

Secondary schools start from a different policy position

In primary schools, 69% of teachers said phones were either collected or placed in pouches under their school's policy in September 2025. A further 15% reported a complete ban on phones from the school site, while 14% said students could keep a phone with them provided it remained out of sight all day.

Secondary schools presented a more mixed picture. Only 5% of secondary teachers said phones were banned from the site, while 18% reported that devices were collected or kept in pouches. The most common policy, cited by 56%, allowed students to keep their phones with them as long as they stayed out of sight throughout the day.

Another 13% said phones had to remain out of sight unless a teacher directed a student to use one, while 8% reported that students could use phones at break or lunchtime.

Those existing differences help explain why the September policy shift appears considerably larger in secondary education. Schools where students already hand over or secure devices have less distance to travel toward a phone-free model than those where phones remain in students' possession.

Teacher Tapp found particularly high levels of planned change among secondary schools whose existing policy allows phones to stay out of sight unless a teacher directs their use. Within that group, 57% of teachers said a policy change was coming.

By contrast, among secondary teachers who said phones were collected or placed in pouches, 16% reported that a policy change was being considered.

Confiscation already dominates secondary sanctions

The data also shows that secondary schools were enforcing restrictions before the latest guidance, although consequences for misuse varied.

For a first mobile phone offense, 72% of secondary teachers said their school's policy was to confiscate the device until the end of the day.

Another 10% reported confiscation lasting longer than a day, while 4% said the phone was taken until the end of the lesson. Eight percent said the first consequence was a verbal warning, and 6% reported another form of sanction.

The new guidance therefore lands in schools that were already restricting phone use, but often through very different models. A phone remaining in a student's pocket all day, a device locked in a pouch and a total site ban can all limit access, while creating different requirements for staff enforcement and student compliance.

Teacher Tapp's figures suggest the largest adjustment is now happening in secondary schools in England, where phones were previously more likely to remain with students during the school day.

Teacher Tapp plans to return to the issue as the new academic year begins, including checking what schools have changed and how revised mobile phone policies are being enforced.