Select committee: Education Committee
Conclusion 14
Fourth Report - Screen time: impacts on education and wellbeing
Published 25 May 2024
Paragraph 74
Addressed to Department for Education
Education Committee Screen Time: Impacts on education and wellbeing All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We welcome the inclusion of digital literacy in the curriculum. However, the curriculum is not structured well enough to keep children safe online. Digital literacy is split across numerous subjects with different focuses and teachers. Teachers must grapple with a topic that is constantly evolving and comprehend numerous guidance documents provided by the Government while often having no specialist knowledge of the topic themselves. As a result, the digital literacy capabilities of children in the UK remain generally poor.
From: Education Committee, Fourth Report - Screen time: impacts on education and wellbeing (HC 118), paragraph 74, 25 May 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 22 May 2025 (deadline 25 July 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government recognises the Committee's concerns about screen time and says it is taking action, while stating that further evidence is needed in some areas and that it has set out how all recommendations will be carefully considered.
- On a statutory mobile phone ban in schools, the government says one is "not necessary" because survey evidence suggests schools are following the existing non-statutory guidance, and it will keep surveying schools to inform whether further action is needed.
- On banning smartphones for under 16s, it says there is "a lack of robust and causal evidence" to support this, and that it is building the evidence.
- On a consultation on the digital age of consent, the government says it "will give further consideration" to the recommendation and recognises the importance of keeping the area under review.
- On the Online Safety Act, it states that the child safety duties regime "should be fully in effect by summer 2025", subject to the draft codes passing parliamentary scrutiny once laid.