Supporting education or deepening inequity? An Analysis of Voluntary Donations in State Schools: The Case of Reading

Abstract: This thesis will explore the social norms around the practice of voluntary donations. It will also discuss more generally what this system of school funding means in terms of equality. All of which will be done using a socio-legal conception of norms and theories of capital. The data of this thesis consists of funding reports requested from schools, academic reports reported by the government and interviews conducted with parents from the respective schools. The research found that there was a significant disparity in the amount of voluntary donations across the town of Reading. Further, there were a number of norms around the act of donation that were recognised and explored. Finally, the practice of voluntary donations was discussed in relation to Sustainable Development Goal 4.