New guidance empowers headteachers to ban mobile phones in Scottish schools

Key Points

Scottish Government issues its first guidance on the usage of mobile phones in Scottish classrooms
Headteachers empowered to limit the use of mobile phones in schools, up to and including a full ban on the school estate during the school day
The EIS teaching union says the misuse of phones in schools is a “significant issue”
Some Scottish schools have already implemented their own mobile phone policies
In February, the UK Government issued guidance allowing headteachers to ban mobile phone use throughout the school day

Headteachers have been empowered to ban pupils from using mobile phones at school under new Scottish Government guidance.

Many have already implemented their own policies but the government issued its first official guidance on the issue on Thursday morning.

Headteachers will be able to ban mobile phones in schools but a Scotland-wide ban on the devices in schools is “not considered to be appropriate or feasible”, according to the new guidance.

It comes just months after a survey by the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association found 71% of members highlighted the misuse of mobile phones was having an impact on poor pupil behaviour and learning.

Education secretary Jenny Gilruth said: “The Scottish Government does not intend to dictate approaches to our headteachers – they know better than anyone the specific approach which will work best in their school.

“But we are making clear with this guidance that our headteachers are empowered to take action up to and including a whole school bans.”

Headteachers can take 'the steps they see fit' to limit the use of phones in schools, up to and including a full ban on the school estate during the school day. — Headteachers can take ‘the steps they see fit’ to limit the use of phones in schools, up to and including a full ban on the school estate during the school day. Getty Images

She said that the move will help tackle the negative effects mobile phone use has on learning and teaching.

It means headteachers can take “the steps they see fit” to limit the use of phones in schools, up to and including a full ban on the school estate during the school day.

In February, the UK Government issued guidance allowing headteachers to ban mobile phone use throughout the school day, including at breaktimes, in England.

In Scotland, the Glasgow Gaelic school has implemented a rule – supported by pupils – that means phones are not to be used during and between classes.

And Gordonstoun, one of the independent schools in Moray, restricted phone use back in 2017 to evenings only.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh City Council delayed a decision earlier this year on its approach to banning mobile phones in schools until the new Scottish Government guidance is published.

Several local schools had already introduced policies banning or restricting phone use, but Conservatives in the City Chambers argued without “strong council policy” many teachers would struggle to enforce rules.

A joint amendment agreed by the Labour administration, SNP, Greens and Lib Dems said the issue should go before the education committee once the guidance was published.

Anne Keenan, assistant secretary at the Educational Institute for Scotland (EIS), said the misuse of phones in schools is a “significant issue”.

She told STV News: “It’s being used in some instances to bully pupils and staff and that can have an impact – not only on teaching and learning – but also on the health and wellbeing of children and young people.

“Many schools across the country already have their own guidance in place and the EIS would expect, in the context of an empowered school, the approach that would be taken would be that schools, parents, teachers and pupils would all be involved in the development of policy – to agree what the appropriate use of mobile phones should be for their particular areas.

“What we are hoping for is that national guidance will support this local policy and ensure there are common principles that will underpin the approach they are undertaking and to support schools in implementing guidance.”

The Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR) from 2023 highlighted an increase in “the abusive use of mobile phones in schools” – with devices used to “bully or harass” pupils and staff, with incidents filmed and posted on social media platforms.

But the publication also set out “some benefits to pupils taking their mobile phones to school” – with the example given of youngsters being able to use them to order school meals.

And it stated: “In light of these factors, it is not considered to be appropriate or feasible to introduce a ban nationally on mobile phones in schools.

Gilruth visited Stonelaw High School in Rutherglen, near Glasgow, on Thursday as the guidance on mobile phone use was published, along with wider guidance on behaviour and relationships in schools.

Gilruth, a former modern studies teacher, stressed she would “support any headteacher who decides to institute a ban on mobile phones in their school”.

But she insisted: “This decision is one which rests with Scotland’s headteachers, who know their pupils and their staff and who we trust to take the best decisions in the interests of their school communities.”