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Do School Phone Bans Work? What Two Big Studies Found
More and more schools are asking students to lock their phones away for the day. Parents tend to cheer, students tend to groan. But does taking the phone out of the classroom actually change grades, or how kids feel? Two of the larger studies give answers that look like they disagree, until you notice what each one measured.
One study followed exam results before and after schools banned phones. The other compared how students in strict and relaxed schools felt and how much they used their phones overall. Read together, they say something more useful than "bans work" or "bans don't".
The short answer: bans that students actually followed were linked to slightly better exam results, mostly for the students who were struggling. But a ban covers the school day, and a newer study found students simply used their phones more after school. On wellbeing, there was no difference.
What happened to exam results
Economists Louis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy surveyed high schools in Birmingham, London, Leicester and Manchester about when, if ever, they had banned phones. 91 schools replied. The researchers then matched those dates with national exam records and compared results before and after each school's ban, against schools that had not changed their rules.
After a ban, test scores rose by 6.41% of a standard deviation. That is a small average change. The interesting part is who it came from: students in the bottom quarter by prior achievement gained 14.23% of a standard deviation, while students in the top quarter were not affected either way.
Two details matter. Bans that were not widely followed showed no gain at all, so a rule on paper is not the same as fewer phones in the room. And schools decided to ban phones themselves. The authors asked about other changes at the same time and controlled for students' backgrounds, but a school that tightens phone rules may be tightening other things too.
What happened to wellbeing and total phone use
The SMART Schools study, led by Victoria Goodyear and published in 2025, asked a different question. It compared 1,227 students aged 12 to 15 in 30 English schools: 20 that did not allow recreational phone use during the day and 10 that did.
Students in the restrictive schools used their phones about 30 minutes less during the school day. Across the whole week, though, there was no difference in phone or social media time. The minutes moved to after school. There was also no difference in mental wellbeing, anxiety, depression, sleep, physical activity or attainment between the two groups of schools.
What did stand out was total use. Students who spent more time on their phones and social media overall had poorer wellbeing, sleep and attainment, whichever kind of school they went to. That is a snapshot, so it can't say which came first, but it points at the whole day rather than the school day.
The study has its own limits. It compared schools at one point in time rather than following them through a change, and an accompanying commentary notes that only about 10% of the schools approached took part.
Why the two studies point different ways
They are not really measuring the same thing. One looked at exam results, which happen inside school, where a ban can remove a distraction. The other looked mostly at how students feel, which depends on all 24 hours, most of which a school rule doesn't reach.
They also come from different phone eras. Beland and Murphy's exam data run from 2001 to 2011, before smartphones were in nearly every teenager's pocket. The SMART Schools students grew up with social media in their pockets, and with more reasons to make up lost time after the bell.
The common thread is simple. A ban helps when it actually removes phones from the place where focus matters. It doesn't change total use if the time just moves somewhere else.
What this means at home
If your child's school bans phones, that covers roughly the school day. The hours with the most room for change are the evening and the time after lights out, which no school policy touches. Our piece on scrolling in bed looks at what screens in bed cost in sleep.
The same lesson applies to adults. Blocking apps during work hours can protect your focus there, the way a classroom ban protects lessons. But if the scrolling simply moves to the evening, your total hasn't changed. It is worth looking at your daily total in Screen Time, not just the hours you protected. For practical ways to cut that total, see how to reduce screen time on iPhone.
And if the question is whether a phone in the room matters even when nobody touches it, our article on the "brain drain" effect covers what those experiments found.
A ban is a start, not the whole answer
Taking phones out of classrooms seems to help the students who find it hardest to concentrate, as long as the rule is actually followed. It does not, by itself, change how much time young people spend on their phones or how they feel. That depends on the rest of the day.
Frequently asked questions
Do school phone bans improve grades?
In a study of 91 schools in four English cities, exam scores rose by 6.41% of a standard deviation after a ban, with the biggest gains for the lowest-achieving students. Bans that students did not follow showed no gain. It is one study, and schools chose to ban phones themselves, so other changes could play a part.
Do school phone bans improve mental health?
A 2025 study of 1,227 students in 30 English schools found no difference in wellbeing, anxiety, depression or sleep between schools that restricted phones and schools that allowed them. Students in restrictive schools used their phones about 30 minutes less during the school day but made up the time outside school.
What matters more than a school phone policy?
Total daily phone and social media use. In the 2025 study, more overall use went with poorer wellbeing, sleep and attainment, whatever the school's policy. Evenings and bedtime are outside any school rule.
Sources
- Beland, L.-P., & Murphy, R. (2016). Ill communication: Technology, distraction & student performance. Labour Economics, 41, 61–76. doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2016.04.004. Working paper version.
- Goodyear, V. A., Randhawa, A., Adab, P., et al. (2025). School phone policies and their association with mental wellbeing, phone use, and social media use (SMART Schools): a cross-sectional observational study. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, 51, 101211. doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2025.101211.
- Weiss, H. A., & Bonell, C. (2025). Smartphone use and mental health: going beyond school restriction policies. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, 51, 101237. doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2025.101237.