Urgent action must be taken to end the "widespread" sexual harassment of girls, MPs have demanded after a shocking picture of the scale of abuse in schools was laid bare.

Groping, name calling and bullying is part of "everyday life" for schoolgirls but is dismissed by teachers as "just banter", a Commons committee found.

Its disturbing report warned that some pupils, including those in primary school, were being exposed to hard-core pornography and the images they saw were twisting their views on sex and relationships.

MPs pointed to research that found nearly a third of 16 to 18-year-old girls said they had experienced unwanted sexual touching at school and most girls and young women had faced some form of sexual harassment at school or college.

Pupils also reported hearing girls being called a slut or a slag on a regular basis, according to research highlighted by the Women and Equalities Committee.

It heard the "slapping of bums and flicking [lifting up] of skirts" was common while one teacher told how they had had "many young girls sobbing and humiliated in my office because partially naked images have gone viral".

Too many schools were failing to deal with the problem while the government and watchdog Ofsted had no coherent plan for how the causes and consequences should be tackled, it found.

It looked at recent Girlguiding's Girls' Attitudes surveys, which found in 2014 that 59 per cent of girls and young women aged 13 to 21 said they had faced some form of sexual harassment at school or college in the past year.

MPs also highlighted polling by campaign group End Violence Against Women in 2010 that reported 71 per cent of all 16- to 18-year-olds pupils had heard sexual name-calling, such as "slut" or "slag" used towards girls at schools regularly while 29 per cent of girls in the age group told of being groped.

The report said there was not enough information to show sexual harassment and violence was a growing problem in schools but there was "significant" evidence to suggest that easier access to pornography was exacerbating the problem.

It warned that the type of pornography many children were exposed to was often "more extreme" than adults realised and it was having a "negative impact" on youngsters.

MPs called for all schools to collect data on reports of sexual harassment and police should keep specific records of incidents.

Kevin Courtney, National Union of Teachers general secretary, said: "Government education policies hinder schools' ability to tackle sexual harassment and sexual bullying effectively by leaving no time for pastoral care or personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) within the curriculum or school day.

"Support and guidance from the Department for Education about how to best mitigate the effects of sexual harassment and sexual violence is urgently required."

Shadow women and equalities minister Angela Rayner said: "The Tories are failing to deliver a safe environment for our children to learn and thrive in. It is vital that teachers and staff receive greater support and guidance to tackle the shocking levels of sexual harassment and violence experienced by children in our schools.

"But under this Tory Government, schools are at breaking point. They are facing the first real terms cut in funding for nearly two decades which will inevitably make it more difficult to tackle the harmful attitudes that lead to sexual harassment and violence."