The government has said it will introduce a legal ban on smartphones in schools in England.

Education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith told the House of Lords on Monday that the government would table an amendment to its landmark Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill “creating a clear legal requirement for schools” on the matter.

The Department for Education (DfE) said the move would give “legal force to what schools are already doing in practice”.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson had written to schools earlier this year encouraging them to follow new guidance, external that schools be phone-free for the entire day.