Tod was educated at St John's College, Oxford, as a scholar, taking a first-class BA in classics in 1901.
[2] Tod was elected to a fellowship at Oriel College, Oxford, in 1903 and took up teaching when his studentships ended in 1905.
[2] While at the British School in Athens, Tod became interested in Spartan epigraphy, and also carried out investigations in Laconia.
These led to several articles on the topics and he worked with Alan Wace to produce a catalogue of the Spartan Museum in 1906.
In 1912, he won the Conington Prize at Oxford for his essay "Greek International Arbitration" which was published in 1913.