Distraction and cyberbullying are key concerns over phones in UK schools

Rise in ownership among pupils has sparked a wave of research into pros and cons of mobiles in education

• Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

• ‘I would crank up the restrictions’: teachers on banning phones in school

Mobile phones are so pervasive that many children have their own device before they reach secondary school. Between the ages of five and seven, about one in five children in the UK own a phone, and the figure soars to more than 50% in children aged eight to 11, according to the media regulator Ofcom.

The rise in ownership among school pupils has sparked a wave of research into the pros and cons of mobile phones in education. The findings, and direct experience of the effect on students, have prompted some countries such as France and the Netherlands to ban mobiles in schools. Others, such as the UK, let schools decide what restrictions to make.