Want to do well in exams? Shun mobile phone in school

London School of Economics study says mobile phone bans in schools has the effect of giving students an extra week's education over the course of an academic year

Banning mobile phones from schools distinctly improves examination results, a new study published by the London School of Economics has found.

Mobile phone bans in schools has the effect of giving students an extra week's education over the course of an academic year, researchers said.

Researchers looked at schools in four cities and found test scores improved by over 6 per cent in those which banned mobile phones.

They found low-achieving and low-income students improved the most, 'BBC News' reported.

Despite the benefits of new mobile technology, phones cause distractions, reduce productivity and are detrimental to learning, researchers said.

"We found that not only did student achievement improve, but also that low-achieving and low income students gained the most," said report authors Louis-Philippe Beland and Richard Murphy.

"We found the impact of banning phones for these students was equivalent to an additional hour a week in school, or to increasing the school year by five days," the economists said.

Researchers surveyed the test scores of secondary schools in Birmingham, Leicester, London and Manchester before and after mobile phone bans were introduced.

"The results suggest that low achieving students are more likely to be distracted by the presence of mobile phones while high achievers can focus in the classroom regardless of the mobile phone policy," researchers added.