150 clinicians ask ministers for health checks on school edtech
An open letter says no edtech product must show it is safe for children's physical health before a school buys it. The government says it will consult on AI and edtech safety.
More than 150 clinicians have asked the education and health secretaries for health checks on school technology, Tes and LBC reported on 13 October 2026.
The signatories include GPs, paediatricians and speech and language therapists, Tes reported. The letter to Lucy Powell and Yvette Cooper calls the lack of child-focused health scrutiny "a serious safeguarding concern". It says about £900m a year is spent on edtech in English schools.
No drug, food product or toy is given to millions of children without a single safety check.
EdTech Innovation Hub reported that the letter covers school tablets, laptops, interactive whiteboards and headphones. It also covers the learning platforms used on them. The clinicians want health considered when schools evaluate and buy these products. They also want evidence-based guidance on daily screen exposure.
Health Professionals for Safer Screens announced the letter. The campaign group SafeScreens supports it.
The letter cites analysis that almost one million children spend nearly every lesson on screens, LBC reported. These are the campaigners' figures and the reports do not show that they have been independently checked. The reports also do not show that school screens cause the health problems the letter lists.
For schools and parents, no rule has changed. A government spokesperson told Tes that technology used well can be a "powerful tool" and that a consultation on AI and edtech safety would take place.
There has been one development since. Tes reported on 3 November that early education minister Paul Waugh told a Commons committee the government is testing edtech products with teachers. He said it is also looking at secondary legislation to inform a statutory code of practice from the Information Commissioner's Office.
The reports give no date for the consultation. It is not known whether physical health will be part of any code.
Sources
- Tes Experts warn of health crisis linked to school screen time
- LBC Screen-based learning causing 'crisis' in children's health and development, clinicians warn
- EdTech Innovation Hub School screen time faces scrutiny as 150 clinicians call for EdTech health checks
- Tes Danger of edtech 'Wild West' for schools, warns minister