New local authority map of smartphone free schools launched

Today, Smartphone Free Schools Rating releases a new map to track the growing trend of local authority wide school smartphone policies being announced. Schools are beginning to work as collectives across their local authority areas, in collaboration with councils, parents and other organisations.

Today, a Hampshire consortium of schools released a statement that their primaries will be going to Gold (no smartphones allowed on site at all) by the end of 2025, organised by Clare Fernyhough, Co-Founder of Smartphone Free Childhood. This is the fifth in a series of announcements. The first three came from North London boroughs, which were organised by One Collective Power, who have pioneered the model.

Other authorities are set to follow before the summer holidays begin.

Of the early adopter schools which are registered in the Smartphone Free Schools Rating map, 24% have announced plans to change their policy to Gold in the near future, and 6% have announced plans to move to Silver, in a wave of change that is taking place across the country.

The map, letters and other information about the bans can be found here.