Exceptions and adjustments

The January 2026 guidance retained scope for individual adaptations, including to support a pupil’s medical condition and to make reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils.

Under the Equality Act 2010, the duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils is anticipatory. Under the Children and Families Act 2014, schools have duties to support pupils with medical conditions. Neither is displaced by the phone guidance being placed on a statutory footing.

The guidance itself indicates that allowing a disabled pupil access to a device may be a reasonable adjustment where necessary.

Some equipment that supports a medical or access need is difficult to distinguish visually from a device the policy prohibits. Continuous glucose monitors are the most common example. Communication aids, alert devices and hearing technology raise the same problem.

Access needs are not always medical monitoring. A child with restricted mobility may need to alert an adult at a time and in a manner that does not require them to raise it in front of a class. Whether a device is the right response is a matter for the school, the family and the SENCO, but the analysis follows the duties above rather than the phone policy.

Which route a request falls under

A request connected to a disability or medical condition engages the duties above. A request because a child walks home alone does not. The tests differ and so do the consequences of getting them wrong, which is why it is worth establishing at the outset which one a request falls under.

Families do not always frame the request in those terms, and the medical or access element is sometimes only apparent after a conversation.