The Scottish Government plans to consult on legislation to make school learning environments phone free. The move is a recognition that digital life has entered childhood faster than public policy could control it.
Scotland is moving toward phone free classrooms under new measures announced by Education Secretary Màiri McAllan.
The Scottish Government said it will shortly publish a consultation on legislation to make school learning environments phone free, meeting a commitment to act within the first 100 days of the new government. Refreshed guidance for schools is also expected before pupils return from the summer holidays.
The announcement marks a shift from guidance and local discretion toward a statutory approach. Headteachers in Scotland have already had the power to restrict or ban mobile phone use in schools, but ministers now intend to put phone free learning on a firmer legal footing.
The government says the measure is intended to protect children and young people and support learning environments across Scotland. In its announcement, McAllan said legislation was the route to mandating phone free learning, while adding that headteachers who want to act now should not wait.
The decision follows growing concern about the role of phones in schools, including distraction, filming, online bullying, disruption to teaching, social pressure and the wider effect of constant connectivity on children’s concentration and wellbeing.
The Scottish Government’s 2024 guidance already recognised that mobile phones had become central to how young people communicate, but warned that over exposure to phone use was linked to limited concentration, unhappiness and isolation. It also cited PISA 2022 findings showing that almost a third of 15 year olds in Scotland and across OECD countries reported being distracted by digital devices in most or every maths class, while around a quarter reported being distracted by other pupils using digital devices.
Until now, Scotland’s approach has relied heavily on headteacher judgement. The 2024 guidance said heads could limit phone use up to and including a full ban on the school estate during the school day if that was judged to be right for their pupils. In Parliament in February 2025, then Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said the guidance had gone as far as ministers could go at that time, adding that the Scottish Government could not unilaterally impose a national ban without further legal powers.
That is the policy line now changing. The proposed legislation would move Scotland from encouragement and local choice toward a national expectation that learning environments should be phone free.
For years, schools have been asked to manage devices designed by some of the most powerful technology companies in the world, carrying social media, messaging, gaming, video, image sharing and permanent notification systems into the school day. A classroom teacher is competing with an economy built to capture attention.
Some pupils may need phones for medical, accessibility, travel or family reasons. Older pupils may have legitimate transport or caring responsibilities before and after school. Schools will also need clear arrangements for emergencies, secure storage, enforcement, additional support needs, parental contact and the cost of any physical systems such as lockable pouches.
Still, the direction is clear. Scotland is no longer treating phones in schools as a minor management issue left entirely to individual buildings. It is accepting that the digital environment has changed the terms of childhood and that schools need national protection to create space for learning, attention and social life without the constant presence of a device.
The consultation will be the place where the detail is tested. It should ask how strict phone free learning should be, how exemptions should work, how schools should avoid widening inequality, how children should be heard, and whether local flexibility can survive inside a national legal framework.
SOURCES
Scottish Government, “Phone-free learning in Scottish schools”, 2 June 2026
Scottish Government, “Mobile phones: guidance for Scotland’s schools”, 15 August 2024
Scottish Parliament, “Mobile Phones in Classrooms (Guidance)”, Official Report, 27 February 2025
Scottish Government, “Improving relationships and behaviour in schools: action plan 2024 to 2027”
