Nearly half a million under-16s in England use taxis, buses and other transport funded by their local authorities to get to school, according to government estimates.

That is 6% of the total number of pupils in England in that age group.

Of those, 40% are thought to be eligible for home to school transport because of special educational needs and disabilities (Send).

Local authorities have warned that the cost of providing transport to schoolchildren is “becoming increasingly financially unsustainable”.

The new data from the Department for Education (DfE) – which is the first of its kind – is based on voluntary submissions from three quarters of local authorities in February and March.

It suggests that, across England:

• 470,000 pupils under the age of 16 (6% of the total) use home to school transport
• 50,000 pupils over 16 also use funded transport
• 9% of under-16s who receive funded transport because of Send travel alone in single-occupancy vehicles

Local authorities in England are required by law to arrange funded transport for children who live a certain distance from school, who cannot walk because of Send or mobility problems, or who cannot walk due to safety reasons.

The DfE data suggests 60% (290,000) of pupils using funded transport do so for reasons other than Send, with local authorities citing distance as the main reason.

However, the DfE says those particular estimates should be treated with caution because fewer than half of local authorities responded and most of them were rural.

Local authorities have been warning of the growing cost of providing home to school transport for children and young people with Send.

They spent £1.5bn on transport for under-16s with Send in the 2023-24 financial year, about two-and-a-half times what it was in 2015-16.

The Local Government Association, which represents councils in England, said the pressure had ramped up over the past three years.

“Continuing to fulfil the current statutory responsibilities for home to school transport is becoming increasingly financially unsustainable, posing a real threat of bankruptcy for some, and necessitating cuts to other vital aspects of children’s services provision in many more,” a spokesperson said.

Ministers have faced calls not to cut education, health and care plans (EHCPs) for children and young people with Send.

Last month, the education committee recommended that the government keep them.

The National Audit Office has previously said the Send system in England is “broken”, not financially sustainable and failing to deliver better outcomes for children and young people.

The DfE announced last week that it was delaying reforms to the Send system and other policy proposals for schools in England until next year.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said there would be a “further period of co-creation, testing our proposals with the people who matter most in this reform”.