This thesis examines the involvement of R.H. Tawney in educational reform during the first half of the twentieth century. It has three main objectives, to demonstrate the broad range of his educational interests, to show the development in his political strategies to achieve progress in education, and to explain the consistency evident in his writings and activities in terms of a theory of' equality which absorbed and. transcended a Victorian tradition of thinking. The opening chapters show how this theory was tempered by a number of early experiences, including his elitist education, his social and economic investigations, and his involvement in the university tutorial class movement. Later chapters show how it was embodied in his concept of secondary education for all. The broad outlines of Tawney's educational interests are seen to be fixed during the First World War. He became involved in the campaigns to establish nursery schools and to reform elementary education. The controversy over the continued education clauses of the Fisher Bill led him to give a priority to adolescent education which was in keeping with his earlier interests, and. which later found expression in ' Secondary Education For All’, in his work for the Consultative Committee, and.in the educational campaigns, which reached a climax during the Second World War. His earliest interest, that of university reform, was reflected in his work on the Adult Education Committee of the Ministry of Reconstruction, and later in his evidence for the Royal Commission on Oxford and Cambridge and in his service on the University Grants Committee. The First World War is also seen to mark an important stage in the development of Tawney's political strategies. This study reveals how his earlier unfruitful condemnation of compromise and political manoeuvring gave way to closer co-operation with the Labour Party, and developed into the adroit use of committees, conferences, the press, deputations and informal discussions to achieve advances in education.