Surge in secondaries using lockable pouches for phones

A surge in the use of lockable pouches for students’ mobile phones means they are now used by more than one in five secondary schools, survey data suggests.

The apparent trend comes as schools have been told to become “mobile phone-free environments by default” under guidance that the government has made statutory for schools from this term.

Some 36 per cent of secondary teachers said their schools either collected phones in or used pouches or lockers to store them when asked by Teacher Tapp earlier this month - up from 14 per cent in September 2025 and 8 per cent in November 2024.

Of those respondents working at schools currently using one of these approaches, 60 per cent used pouches, 29 per cent said phones were collected and returned at the beginning and end of each day, and 10 per cent used lockers.

Overall, 22 per cent of the 4,995 secondary teachers who responded in September 2026 worked in schools using pouches.

However, installing pouches costs upwards of £20,000 per school.

Additional funding needed

And in a letter to chancellor John Healey, sent yesterday ahead of the Autumn Budget, the Commons Education Select Committee warns that schools “should not be expected to bear the cost of implementing stricter policies themselves”.

Where schools choose to adopt phone-free approaches or use lockable pouches or lockers, the government “must provide dedicated, additional funding to support their implementation and minimise classroom distraction”, it adds.

Only 16 per cent of secondaries have enough lockers for all students, Tes reported in April.

One headteacher whose school introduced pouches last year told Tes there were “logistical benefits” to using them over other approaches.

Thomas Fisher, principal of Ernulf Academy in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, said using lockers took out “a chunk of the day” each morning and afternoon to allow students to store and collect their phones.

“That might sound very simple, but if you are dealing with anything from 700 to 2,000 children, then that is a logistical nightmare,” he said.

Parents support introduction of phone pouches

Students at the school, which is part of Astrea Academy Trust, are expected to keep their phone in their pouch and can use unlocking stations at the end of the day.

“There are two big reasons why we went for pouches: it is logistically easier, but also it means children retain responsibility for their possessions,” Mr Fisher said.

Students seen with phones not in pouches during the day have their devices confiscated for seven days.

Only confiscating them until the end of the school day could have been seen as “low-risk and high-reward” by students, Mr Fisher said.

Harrison Littler, headteacher of St Luke’s Church of England School in Exeter, said: “We decided last year that we wanted to improve our approach to managing mobile phones in school. While in the main phones were not seen or heard during the school day, we were aware that some students were still accessing them discreetly.”

He said that through consultation, the school, which is part of the Ted Wragg Trust, was “surprised at the extent to which we were pushing at an open door with families”, adding: “This was particularly true of Year 7 parents whose children were joining us, with 92 per cent of them supporting the introduction of pouches.”

Phone pouches less common in primaries

Pouches were much less common in primary schools, the Teacher Tapp poll found. Overall, 71 per cent of primary teachers said their schools collected phones in or used pouches or lockers.

Of these, the vast majority (95 per cent) said their school collected phones in and gave them back at the end of the day. Just 2 per cent said their schools used lockers and just 1 per cent used pouches.

Earlier this year, a framework was set up to supply schools with lockable phone pouches.

The national commercial body for policing in England and Wales, BlueLight Commercial, has been awarded an open framework with an estimated value of £60 million over eight years for the supply of the pouches, “unlocking bases” and support services.

In April, the government announced its intention to “ban” phones in schools by placing guidance on a statutory footing.

This was just days after then education minister Olivia Bailey appeared to suggest it was unnecessary, when she said the problem of phones in schools was “already solved”.