‘Close to zero impact’: US study casts doubt on effect of phone ban in schools

Last month, the UK’s Department for Education announced that it would legislate to make restrictions on phones a statutory requirement for England’s state schools. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Strict bans on mobile phones in schools have “close to zero” impact on student learning and show no evidence of improvements in attendance or online bullying, a study has found.

Researchers at US universities including Stanford and Duke looked at nearly 1,800 US schools where students’ phones were kept in locked pouches and found little or no differences in outcomes compared with similar schools without strict bans.