One of the country's top private schools is fighting back against screens in the classroom – by insisting pupils use pen and paper.

Winchester College, the 644-year-old Hampshire boarding school, has stopped children using laptops for nearly all classwork and homework amid concern the devices are hampering learning.

The school's head, Elizabeth Stone, said: 'There's no point just tackling the phones if we're going to say, "Here's a laptop that you have to have with you all the time"... because the vast majority of the activity that they're doing on the phone can then just shift as easily on to a tablet or a laptop.'

She added that laptops have become 'more distracting' for the school's pupils, who are aged 13 to 18, with teachers noticing a 'big spike' in internet use during the first ten minutes of the first lesson – indicating that pupils were immediately checking their emails.

Ms Stone, who became Winchester College's first female head in 2023, criticised the suggestion that students were simply 'multitasking', arguing that the laptops enabled 'fragmented attention switching'.

All homework for the youngest pupils – Years 9 and 10 – must now be completed with pen and paper. 

Older pupils will be able to use their laptops only where there is evidence it will be 'substantially' beneficial to the lesson.

'We made it clear to teachers we do not want the laptop to be the default way of working. If it can be done in another way without the technology, you should,' Ms Stone told The Sunday Times.

The school's crackdown puts it at odds with recent education policy, which encourages screens in classrooms to try to make pupils more technologically advanced. 

But parents and teachers are concerned that many children are becoming addicted to their screens, to the detriment of their learning and development.

Ms Stone has said the rolling back of technology has already resulted in better concentration and engagement in lessons.

'They weren't simultaneously chatting to each other and sending instant messages. They didn't have access to YouTube. They weren't watching football reels,' she said.

In April, Labour's then education secretary Bridget Phillipson announced a £23million scheme to expand the use of AI in classrooms. 

Campaigners have warned the Government is 'prioritising cost savings over proven education'.