Teaching children a passion for Shakespeare and the beauty of his language used to be one of the main aims of English lessons. Now the plays are being chopped up and shown to schools in truncated form.

Rather than visiting Stratford-upon-Avon or going to the theatre for a full production of The Tempest or Othello, pupils see performances only of the scenes on which they face tests.

Critics say the practice illustrates the growing trend of teaching to the test, with children’s education restricted just to material that is likely to be assessed. Schools are told in advance which lines of a Shakespeare play will crop up in tests at Key Stage 3, when pupils are 14.

In response, at least four theatre companies are offering stripped-down productions that focus on the key scenes. Even the questions explored in these workshops mirror those likely to be asked in Key Stage 3 tests.

Teachers complain they are under increasing pressure to ensure that pupils perform highly in the tests, the results of which contribute to school rankings. Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: “This is teaching to the test. Shakespeare shouldn’t be in a national exam for 14-year-olds — they should be acting it out and enjoying it, not sitting tests. It’s a nonsense and completely unnecessary. The thinking is that if you are not tested on it you haven’t done it.

“The play’s the thing, not extracts from the play. If you’re watching only one scene you don’t have it in context and don’t get the experience of Shakespeare. But this happens — schools analyse three scenes in forensic detail, which is utterly boring.”

About 650,000 teenagers sat their Key Stage 3 tests in the past few days.

The theatre companies that offer workshops focused on the tests include the Globe, rebuilt near the site of the London venue where some of Shakespeare’s plays were originally performed. It has a “practical Sats study day” for Key Stage 3.

Shakespeare 4 Kidz, based in Oxted, Surrey, offers a version of scenes from plays in everyday language, before performing extracts from the originals. It also produces musical versions of Shakespeare for pupils as young as eight.

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