A prestigious British school is rethinking the role of technology in education, returning to pen and paper for much of its classroom work and homework amid concerns that laptops and other digital devices can undermine students’ concentration.

Winchester College, a historic boarding school in Hampshire, England, has made traditional learning methods the default for students aged 13 to 18. The school, founded in 1382, now expects teachers to demonstrate a clear educational benefit before using laptops during lessons.

The policy reflects a broader debate over technology in schools: while digital tools can improve access to information and support specialized learning, unrestricted screen use may encourage distractions and frequent shifts in attention.

Why has Winchester College moved away from laptops?

Winchester College introduced the change because school leaders were concerned that laptops could distract students from classroom teaching. Rather than banning technology outright, the school has shifted the responsibility to teachers to justify when digital devices are necessary.

According to a report in The Sunday Times, head Elizabeth Stone argued that restricting mobile phones would have limited value if students could continue similar activities on laptops and tablets.

“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, and you get access to it whenever you want’,” Stone was quoted as saying.

Her concern is that distractions do not disappear when students switch devices. Social media, messaging, entertainment and unrelated browsing can compete with lessons regardless of whether students are using phones or computers.

The school therefore wants technology to serve a specific learning purpose instead of becoming the automatic choice for every classroom activity.

How does the school’s new learning policy work?

Since September 2025, students have been expected to use laptops only when teachers can identify a clear benefit for the lesson. Paper and pen have become the preferred tools for much of the school’s everyday academic work.

Stone said teachers had been instructed to consider whether a computer offers a “concrete, substantial educational benefit” before introducing it into a lesson.

The policy reverses the usual assumption that digital devices should be readily available unless there is a reason to prohibit them. At Winchester College, teachers are expected to start with non-digital methods and introduce technology when it meaningfully improves learning.

The reported rules also include mandatory pen-and-paper homework for pupils aged 9 to 10 and students aged 13 to 15. The school has additional restrictions on mobile phones, with pupils older than nine permitted to use basic phones without the features commonly found on smartphones.

These measures form part of a broader effort to limit unnecessary screen exposure while preserving access to technology when it is academically useful.

Why does Winchester College believe laptops can hinder learning?

One of the school’s central concerns is the effect of digital multitasking on students’ attention.

Stone challenged the idea that students can effectively listen to a teacher, browse another screen and repeatedly switch between activities without consequences.

“Multitasking is not a thing. Multitasking is fragmented attention switching,” she said, describing how students move between listening, looking at a screen and returning to the lesson.

This distinction is important because switching between activities can interrupt concentration. A student who appears to be following a lesson while checking messages or opening unrelated tabs may miss explanations or lose track of a complex argument.

Paper-based work can reduce some of these opportunities for distraction. When students write notes, solve problems or complete assignments by hand, they are less likely to encounter notifications and unrelated digital content during the task.

However, the benefits depend on how technology is used. A well-designed digital lesson can support learning, while poorly structured paper-based work can also fail to engage students. Winchester College’s approach is to make the choice of medium dependent on the educational objective.

What role will technology continue to play at the school?

Despite its shift toward traditional learning methods, Winchester College has not abandoned computers or digital tools. The school continues to use technology where it offers practical advantages that paper cannot easily replicate.

Examples include artificial intelligence, three-dimensional mathematical modeling, climate simulations in geography, digital modeling and electronic flashcards for language and English lessons.

These activities involve capabilities that can be difficult or impossible to reproduce through conventional classroom materials alone. Digital simulations, for example, can help students explore complex systems, while mathematical modeling software allows them to manipulate and examine three-dimensional structures.

The school also permits computer use for students with special educational needs or learning difficulties when digital tools support their lessons and homework.

This distinction is central to understanding the policy. Winchester College is not arguing that technology has no place in education. Instead, it is challenging the assumption that using a screen is inherently better or more effective than completing a task on paper.

Could handwriting and paper-based learning improve student performance?

Research on handwriting and learning has suggested that writing by hand can support certain aspects of memory and information processing. The physical process of recording information may encourage students to select, organize and summarize ideas rather than simply reproduce large amounts of text.

Handwritten notes can also make it easier for students to draw diagrams, annotate passages and work through calculations without navigating between windows or applications.

Nevertheless, the relationship between handwriting, digital learning and academic performance is complex. Outcomes can vary depending on students’ ages, the subject being taught, the quality of instruction and the specific technology involved.

Typing may be more efficient for lengthy assignments, while digital tools can improve accessibility for some students and make it easier to revise, organize or share work.

For that reason, Winchester College’s policy should not be interpreted as proof that pen and paper are universally superior. Its approach instead places greater emphasis on choosing a learning method based on the task and the needs of the student.

Is Winchester College part of a wider rethink of technology in education?

The school’s decision comes amid wider questions about how schools should manage smartphones, laptops and other connected devices.

Digital technology has become a routine part of education, offering access to online resources, collaborative tools and interactive lessons. At the same time, educators and parents have raised concerns about screen distractions, online behavior and students’ ability to concentrate for sustained periods.

Winchester College’s approach offers a different way of addressing these concerns. Rather than treating every digital device as either essential or harmful, it asks teachers to establish why a particular tool is needed.

The approach also recognizes that restrictions on smartphones alone may not eliminate distractions if students have unrestricted access to other internet-connected devices.

Whether this model improves academic outcomes will depend on evidence from its implementation. Useful measures would include student concentration, assignment quality, classroom participation, academic performance and the experiences of pupils who benefit from assistive technology.

The policy’s long-term success will therefore depend not simply on reducing screen time, but on demonstrating that the change helps students learn more effectively.

What Winchester College’s decision means for the future of classrooms

Winchester College’s return to pen and paper highlights an important question for modern education: should technology be the default learning environment, or should schools introduce it only when it adds measurable value?

The school’s answer is to prioritize traditional methods for routine work while retaining digital tools for tasks that genuinely benefit from them.

That approach avoids the extremes of banning technology entirely or assuming that more screen time automatically produces better learning. It also places the teacher’s judgment and the student’s educational needs at the center of classroom decisions.

As schools continue to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of digital learning, Winchester College’s experiment will be worth watching. Its significance lies less in rejecting laptops than in reconsidering when, why and how students should use them.