By Sean Coughlan BBC News Online at the ATL conference in Blackpool

English tests to be taken by teenagers next month are "deplorable acts of vandalism", a teachers' conference has heard.

But the Association of Teachers and Lecturers backed away from boycotting the them, after delegates were warning this could be illegal.

The tests, to be taken by 14 year olds, were opposed by a succession of speakers, with the conference finally passing a motion claiming they were "so flawed as to be educationally damaging".

The ATL will now call on the education secretary not to publish the results of the tests in school performance tables.

Michael Catty they would destroy any love of literature among pupils, as the works of Shakespeare would be used as grammatical exercises rather than complete dramas.

'Hoop jumping'

"It's not about teaching to learn, it's about teaching to jump through hoops," he said.

Speakers argued the tests would crush any sense of creativity.

Teachers also claimed pilot versions were clouded with confusion about how they would be marked.

The development of tests for teenagers follows the government's attempt to raise standards in the early years of secondary school.

While 11 year olds in England have been found by international studies to be performing strongly in literacy skills, there have been concerns about a step backwards when they go to secondary school.

The Shakespeare tests are intended to help improve the performance for this age group.