Pupils at one of Scotland’s first state schools to ban mobile phones in the classroom have seen exam results rocket.
The head teacher of Berwickshire High School in Duns believes the move has contributed to an improvement in pupil behaviour, a reduction in bullying and rising attainment since 2020.
Bruce Robertson put a block on using phones in the school building but allowed pupils to text or make calls in the playground.
Now the school has recorded a 20% rise in exam success.
Mr Robertson said: “The proportion of S4 pupils passing five or more National 5s, or the equivalent, has risen from 44 to 64 per cent since 2018. And the proportion of pupils passing at least five exams at Higher level or equivalent has increased from 21 to 41 per cent.
“The school is calmer and more purposeful as a result of ridding classrooms of phones – and pupils spend more time during breaks actually talking to each other.
“The ban on phones is a key reason for these radical improvements.
“I believe it is also a contributory factor to better exam results.”
The rules came into force three years before Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth gave the green light for all schools to banish mobiles last year, but stopped short of introducing a nationwide ban.
The move followed a study in 2023 by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which found that Scots pupils were being distracted by smartphones, with experts saying they were affecting learning and contributing to increased anxiety levels.
Scottish Tory education spokesman Miles Briggs said: “This powerful testimony must be the catalyst for SNP ministers to enforce a phone ban in schools.
“Thanks to the SNP’s shameful failure to deliver on their pledge to deliver free laptops and tablet devices, many teachers are unsure that this will even be practically possible.
“Jenny Gilruth should look at this positive example as the benchmark as to how this policy could work in practice given the soaring attainment levels.
“Common sense should tell the Education Secretary that good outcomes happen when teachers are trusted to decide what’s best for their own school.”
In 2023, the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) found that 15-year-olds in Scotland lag behind pupils in former Soviet bloc countries such as the Czech.
The PISA report also highlighted a drop in attainment in maths, reading and science in Scottish schools.
Scotland had the widest attainment gap in maths between poorer and better-off pupils that anywhere else in the UK.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Our recently published mobile phone guidance empowers head teachers to take the steps they see fit for their school to limit the use of mobile phones, including a full ban on the school estate if they feel that is required.”
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