Millions of pounds in taxpayers’ money is being wasted building state-of-the-art free schools that stand empty, while deteriorating and potentially unsafe buildings present a “looming crisis” for the local authority, MPs have warned.

In anticipation of the growing demand for school places, the Department of Education (DfE) plans to open 500 new free schools by 2020, costing an estimated £2.5bn simply to purchase the land needed to build them.

A report into capital funding for schools published by the National Audit Office (NAO) suggests in some areas the independently-run, state-funded schools are creating spare capacity that could have “serious financial implications” for the state education sector.

The average cost of each of the 175 free school sites bought by the DfE so far stands at £4.9m, with 34 sites having cost more than £10m each, including four that have cost more than £30m.

Meanwhile, up to 60 per cent of existing school buildings are in urgent need of repair, the report found, with many pre-1976 buildings in need of replacement or suffering major defects including problems with electrics and external walls.

Shadow Secretary of State for Education, Angela Rayner, called on the Government to scrap “arbitrary” free school targets and focus on repairing existing schools.

She told The Independent: “The Tories are wasting millions on free schools in areas that do not need them and where there is no demand, while a crisis is looming in the condition of many of our state schools.

“It is unacceptable that money can be found for the Tories’s pet projects, yet there are major defects in the fabric of state schools which are not being repaired.

The DfE’s property data survey estimates it would cost £6.7bn to return all school buildings to satisfactory or better condition, and a further £7.1bn to bring parts of school buildings from satisfactory to good condition.

Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Show all 20 1 /20 Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Singapore Singapore was the top performing country across all three subjects (maths, science and reading) in the 2015 PISA tables. The small Asian country is renowned for its high academic standards and produces excellent results, particularly in mathematics. Pupils here learn maths by what is known as the “mastery method,” which teaches children how to solve problems as a class and errs away from more traditional recitations of formulae. Singapore selects its teachers from the top 5 per cent of graduates, and teachers are very highly regarded as societal influencers. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Japan Japanese schools came in 2nd for Science, 5th in the world for maths and 8th for reading skills. Japan has one of the best-education populations, with zero illiteracy recorded and strong emphasis on arithmetic and geography. While children around the world typically learn between 26 and 33 letters of the alphabet, Japanese pupils will know 1,006 kanji characters by the time they leave primary school. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Estonia Dubbed the “new Finland” by some, Estonia has risen rapidly towards the top of the Pisa rankings despite being one of the world’s youngest countries. Estonia spends around 4 per cent of GDP on education. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Taipei Taiwan has been known as a centre for technical excellence for decades and its students perform consistently well in technology, maths and sciences. Education is compulsory from age six, and some 95 per cent of all students continue their education after age 15. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Finland Children in Finland don’t start school under age seven, yet consistently produce some of the best results in the world. The country’s education system has a somewhat alternative approach to that of most OECD countries, placing emphasis on playtime and creative learning. Pupils don’t sit tests until they reach 16. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Macau Most schools in Macau are private or subsidized. There are only a handful of government or state schools, which tend to teach in Portuguese or have a strong emphasis on pupils learning the language. The majority of schools are also selective grammar schools which focus heavily on languages, mathematics and sciences over vocational subjects. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Hong Kong A former UK colony, Hong Kong education has been closely modelled on the British system in the past,. Education is free and compulsory in primary and junior secondary schools. Independent schools follow the International Baccalaureate, UK or US curricula. The territory participates separately from China (Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu, Guangdong) in the Pisa league tables. Rex Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education South Korea South Korea has long been one of the world’s top academic achievers, but at the price of very long school days for students. Many start school by 8am, and carry on until late at night at private study clubs. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education New Zealand While the New Zealand school curriculum is not dissimilar to the UK’s, children here are not required to start school until age six. The country also has eight state-funded universities offering degrees in a range of subjects. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education China Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Slovenia Slovenia scored highly in this year’s maths and science results. Basic education for children ages six to 15 is compulsory and free for children in Slovenia. International citizens are taught the Slovenian language at the beginning of school. Rex Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Australia Australian Pisa candidates came in 14th place for Science, 15th place for reading and 23rd place for Maths – slipping down in the ranks on previous years. Australia has the third highest number of international students in the world behind the UK and US, despite having a much lower population overall. The school system is split mainly into government state-funded schools, Catholic faith schools and independent fee-paying schools. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education United Kingdom The UK jumped to 15th place for science in this year’s Pisa tables, up from 21st in 2012. According to the report, teachers in the UK are among the youngest across all developed countries. The total amount spent on British education exceeds that of most other participating countries – and critics argue the education system should provide better results because of this. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Germany Schooling in Germany is governed by individual states, which each have their own education departments and policies. Normally, children begin primary school at age six but secondary school options vary widely. Germany increased its expenditure on educational institutions from primary to post-secondary non-tertiary levels, despite declining enrolments, and teachers have competitive salaries compared to others as a result. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Netherlands Dutch children were found to be the happiest in the world in a 2013 Unicef study. Schools typically don't give much homework until secondary level and students report little pressure and stress. Rex Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Switzerland Just five per cent of children attend private schools in Switzerland. Lessons are taught in different languages depending on the region of Switzerland, with German, French or Italian the most common languages of instruction. From secondary onwards students are separated by ability. Rex Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Ireland The majority of secondary schools in Ireland are privately owned and managed but state-funded, but there are also state comprehensives and vocational schools. The country performed especially well in Pisa reading tests - coming in fifth place globally. Rex Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Belgium Belgian schools came in 15th place for science in this year’s Pisa table. Schools here are free, and regulated and financed by three separate communities – Flemish, French and German-speaking. Boys in Belgium perform significantly better than girls in school according the latest OECD reports. Rex Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Vietnam Education in Vietnam is state run system of public and private schools. The country took part in the Pisa tests for the first time in 2012 and scored higher in reading, maths and science than the UK and US. This is believed to be partly a result of high spending levels on education and hardworking culture instilled in children from a young age. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Canada Education is compulsory up the age of 16 in most Canadian provinces, apart from Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick where pupils must stay on until 18 or when high school diploma is achieved. The education system varies between French and English-speaking provinces. Rex

According to the report, the DfE has already spent £863m on land acquisitions for free schools over the last five years – in some cases paying “premium” prices because of a shortage of suitable sites.

Last year the Government was reported to have spent £33.5m buying one premises for a secondary free school in north London that would be located next to two thriving comprehensives – a move local councillors described as a “staggering waste of taxpayers’ money”.

Ms Rayner added: “At the same time there is mounting pressure on secondary schools to create more places. It’s time the Tories ditched their obsession with free schools and concentrated on the real problems facing our schools.”

The NAO acknowledged that some improvements had been made in terms of estimating the need for more school places and forecasting pupil numbers, but said the expected deterioration in the condition of the school estate was a “significant risk to long-term value for money”.

While the DfE said it was too early to determine how the condition of the school estate is changing over time, the cost of repairing major building defects is expected to double between 2015-16 and 2020-21, even with current levels of funding, as many buildings are said to be “near the end of their useful lives”.

A DfE spokesperson said Tuesday: “As the NAO acknowledges, we have made more school places available, and in the best schools. The free school programme is a vital part of this – more than three quarters of free schools have been approved in areas where there is already demand for new places and the vast majority are rated good or outstanding by Ofsted.

“The Government is making a huge investment in the school estate of £23bn up to 2021, to create a further 600,000 new school places, deliver 500 new free schools, and rebuild and refurbish buildings at over 500 schools. But we want to go further. That’s why we have set out plans to create more good school places, in more parts of the country, by scrapping the ban on new grammar schools, as well as harnessing the expertise and resources of our universities, and our independent and faith schools.”

MP Meg Hillier, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, said: “The Department for Education needs to spend at least £6.7bn just to bring all school buildings up to a satisfactory state.

“But the Department is choosing to open new free schools in areas which do not need them and are failing to fill places.

“This is taxpayers’ money that could be used to fund much needed improvements in thousands of existing school buildings.”

A net increase of 599,000 state school places were created between 2010 and 2015 at a cost of £7.5bn, but another 420,000 places will be needed over the next five years.

A report detailing a critical teacher shortage this week also highlighted that pupil numbers at secondary schools are expected to spike by more than 500,000 to 3.3 million by the year 2025.

Commenting on the NAO report, Toby Young, Director of the New Schools Network, argued that providing more free schools was the best way of addressing this issue.

He said: “As the National Audit Office has said, free schools offer better value for money than previous school building programmes. They are the most cost effective way to create the 750,000 new school places we need between now and 2025.

“They are also more popular with parents and more likely to be rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted than any other type of school.”

Last year Mr Young, who set up the flagship West London Free School, admitted running a school was more difficult than he had anticipated, after criticising teachers, state schools and local education authorities.

He added: “As someone coming into education from the outside, the bits you see of other schools are only the tip of the iceberg. You think, ‘well, I could do better than that’, as you are pointing to the tip of the iceberg, without realising how much more there is to it.”

Last year, 10 per cent of primary places and 16 per cent of secondary places were left unfilled in England.

NAO auditors found while some local areas were experiencing increasing pressure for pupil places, others had an abundance of spare capacity.

“Pupil numbers are continuing to grow and the demand for places is shifting to secondary schools where places are more complex and costly,” it stated.

The NAO report comes as thousands of children across the country wait to hear which school they have been accepted into for the coming academic year.

Secondary school application outcomes will be sent to parents on the evening of Wednesday 1 March.

What is a free school?

Free schools are set up independently by groups of parents, teachers, charities, businesses, universities, trusts, religious or voluntary groups, but are funded directly by central government.

They are often run by an “education provider” – an organisation or company brought in by the group setting up the school – but these firms are not allowed to make a profit.