SCOTTISH schools will become “phone-free environments” under new legislation, the SNP have said.
Cabinet Secretary for Education Mairi McAllan spoke in Holyrood on Tuesday to confirm that a consultation on the complete ban of mobile devices in school environments would be launched within the first 100 days of the new government.
The updated policy comes after 2024 guidance from previous education secretary Jenny Gilruth that allowed headteachers to choose whether their own school would invoke an outright ban.
The SNP’s 2026 election manifesto pledged to introduce “phone-free classrooms” through a “national mobile phone ban”.
McAllan told MSPs: “We recognise a spectrum of harm associated with the significant intensification that we’ve seen in children and young people’s use of online platforms and smartphones.
“This spectrum includes loss of concentration and wasting precious childhood years at one end, through the absorption of harmful, often violent, misogynistic and radicalising content, to incitement to self-harm, extreme bullying and in some cases, grooming.”
McAllan said that an evidence-based public health campaign would be developed to tackle online harms, informed by children and young people.
The SNP Government will also continue to fund resources like the “Mind Yer Time” campaign to advise young people how to best manage their device’s screentime and educate them on the potential risks that mobile phones pose, McAllan said.
McAllan made it clear that flexibility in the blanket ban of mobiles would be essential for some pupils with extenuating circumstances.
“There will be occasions where exemptions are required, such as where young people use their phones to monitor medical conditions or for young carers who need to maintain contact with home,” she said. “Schools who have already implemented phone-free policies are managing this well.
“We will fully explore and understand all these issues to inform sensible legislation.”
The plans met with substantial support from MSPs across the chamber, with Reform UK MSP Angela Ross praising the level of consultation undertaken by the Government ahead of the announcement.
She went on to ask McAllan how the policy can “get the balance right between providing all of this support and resources, and allowing a level of autonomy within classrooms and schools”.
The Education Secretary said: “I think one of the problems with the current situation, and why we need to move to change the law, is because some schools have adopted it, others haven’t and that variability across the country will be letting some pupils down. So, we can’t have that and we have to correct it.”
Scottish Labour education spokesperson Katherine Sangster asked when the new legislation could be in place, but McAllan did not give specifics.
“Banning mobile phones in classrooms” was a core pledge in the Scottish Labour election manifesto.
Edinburgh City Council has made moves to trial phone-free school environments after a consultation involving over 14,000 parents, carers, staff, and young people.
James Gillespie's High School in Marchmont has a clear phone policy across all of campus: “See it. Hear it. Lose it.”
McAllan visited Gillespie's prior to the announcement on Tuesday. She said: “The staff and young people with whom I spoke separately highlighted benefits including fewer distractions during classes, reduced conflict between pupils and between staff and pupils, and more interaction between peers.
“The young people simply reflected to me how much they welcomed the break from otherwise addictive apps and content.”
The Educational Institute of Scotland’s (EIS) general secretary Andrea Bradley had not supported the implementation of a blanket ban and instead was in favour of the previous case-specific guidance.
First Minister of Wales Rhun ap Iorwerth has supported schools to make their own decision regarding phone bans, whilst multiple Northern Irish schools are undertaking phone-free pilot programmes.
