no. 01 The research

Every claim, with the source attached.

Short answer. We don't make numbers up. Every statistic on the site links to a primary source: Ofcom, the DfE, Parentkind, Ipsos and Smartphone Free Childhood. They're listed below in citation order.

We've read the studies so you don't have to. If you find a citation we've got wrong, please email hello@knockphone.co.uk. The editor reads every email.

Last reviewed 22 May 2026. No affiliate links on this page.

Parentkind National Parent Survey 2025, conducted by YouGov

84% of UK parents back a school-day phone ban

84% of UK parents whose child does not yet have a smartphone support banning smartphones across the school day.

Parentkind's 2025 survey, fielded by YouGov, found a clear majority of parents back a school-day ban. The number rises further among parents whose children do not yet have smartphones. Use this figure when describing parent appetite, not pupil opinion.

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Ipsos polling, September 2024, 2,175 GB adults

11 to 12 is the age UK adults now name as right for a first smartphone

A majority of UK adults back banning under-16s from social media and say 11 or 12 is the right age for a first smartphone.

Ipsos polled 2,175 GB adults in September 2024. Majorities backed banning phones in schools, restricting under-16s on social media, and naming 11 or 12 as the appropriate age for a first smartphone. Use this figure when describing what adults think is the right age, not what children own.

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Ofcom Children and Parents Media Use and Attitudes Report, May 2025

30% of UK six and seven year olds own a smartphone

30% of UK children aged 6 to 7 own a smartphone, and 67% of 13 to 15 year olds are active on social media.

Ofcom's 2025 children and parents report is the canonical source for UK ownership rates and social-media use by age band. Re-read it whenever a stat is cited on the site. Use these figures when describing the current state of childhood smartphone ownership.

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Department for Education, gov.uk

Phones in schools, Department for Education guidance

Department for Education guidance published in February 2024 directs schools in England to prohibit the use of mobile phones across the school day.

The DfE's February 2024 guidance asks schools to prohibit phones across the school day. The canonical text is at gov.uk; the House of Commons Library briefing provides a useful policy summary alongside it. Use this when describing the policy context schools are working inside.

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Smartphone Free Childhood (smartphonefreechildhood.co.uk)

Smartphone Free Childhood has organised hundreds of thousands of UK parents

Smartphone Free Childhood has organised UK parents across regional WhatsApp communities since early 2024. Founders Daisy Greenwell and Clare Fernyhough quote the headline reach on the movement's own website and in named press interviews.

The Smartphone Free Childhood movement, founded by Daisy Greenwell and Clare Fernyhough, has organised UK parents through regional WhatsApp groups since early 2024. The movement's own website is the primary source for the current count; secondary aggregators are not used here. Use this when describing the scale of the parent movement Knock is most closely aligned with on position.

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no. 02 How we cite

How we cite

Every statistic on the site links to its primary source.
We never claim the science is settled. The mental-health evidence on smartphones is correlational.
Where we describe UK school phone-free pilots, we describe them as small qualitative studies of pupils with named academic partners. We do not describe them as population studies.
If a source updates its numbers, we update the site, best-effort.
If we discover we've got something wrong, we say so on the site and email anyone we have emailed about it.
No affiliate links on this page. Mixing commerce with the evidence layer would undermine both.

no. 03 Where it shows up

Where this evidence shows up across Knock

The sources above are cited across the rest of the site. If you'd rather read them in context, here is where each one tends to land.

The research, calmly, the plain-English read of what these sources mean for a worried parent, with the Anxious Generation context.
Seven simple phones, ranked, where the Ofcom and Parentkind numbers help land the Nokia 3210 (2024) as Knock's first pick.
Knock's first pick, a closer look at the Nokia 3210 (2024) and the reasons UK Year Six and Year Seven families tend to land there.
The ninety-second picker, the same evidence translated into five questions that recommend one of seven phones for your family.
The conversation, in seven moments, the parent script built from published UK parent testimony, for use at the kitchen table after the evidence has been read.
For teachers and carers, the same evidence put to work in a letter from the head, a Year-5 assembly, and a one-pager for the SLT.
UK pricing guide, where Ofcom price data and our retailer checks meet the £24-to-£400 ladder of simple phones.
The Anxious Generation, summarised, a plain-English UK read of Jonathan Haidt's book and what it does and does not claim.
Smartwatch versus phone, where a watch is enough for a younger child and where it quietly is not.
Dumb phone versus smartphone, the honest trade-offs once the evidence is in.
Calls and texts only SIMs, how to set a phone up so the internet never arrives in the first place.
The parent pact, why delaying with other families is far easier than doing it alone.
The back-to-school checklist, the practical steps for the week a first phone arrives.