Which university awarded J.R.R. Tolkien his first-class degree in English Language and Literature in 1915?

The University of Oxford awarded J.R.R. Tolkien his first-class degree in English Language and Literature in 1915.

Tolkien studied at Exeter College, Oxford, after transferring from King Edward’s School in Birmingham. He initially focused on Classics but changed to the English course, where his interests in medieval languages, philology, and literature became central to his academic development.

He completed his degree during the First World War and graduated with first-class honors in 1915. After serving in the British Army, Tolkien began academic work connected with the Oxford English Dictionary and later built a distinguished career as a philologist and literary scholar.

The University of Oxford and Exeter College are related but not interchangeable answers: Exeter was Tolkien’s college, while Oxford was the university awarding the degree. His Oxford career later included posts at both the University of Leeds and Oxford.