MANY teachers in England have been sexually harassed by one of their pupils, a "deeply disturbing" examination of life in the classroom by teachers’ union NASUWT has found.

A recent survey of teaching staff found 81 per cent felt they had suffered workplace sexual harassment or bullying since entering the profession, while 30 per cent said they had been subjected to unwanted touching.

Of the 1,290 people surveyed, two thirds claimed to have received inappropriate comments about their appearance, more than half said they had received inappropriate sexual comments and 21 per cent said they had been sexually propositioned.