Congratulations to King's Ely student, Laura Moretti, on being Commended in the 2025 University of Oxford Julia Wood History Essay Competition!

A record number of 707 Sixth Form-age students entered this year's contest, which is organised every year by St Hugh's College, in memory of St Hugh's historian, Julia Wood. 

There was one overall winner, two runners-up, and around 50 Commendations awarded to entrants whose essays were of "a particularly high standard".

Unlike many History essay competitions, the Julia Wood prize gives students complete freedom to choose their topic, with the only requirement being a word limit of 4,000. Laura chose to explore Mussolini’s campaigns to suppress the Sicilian Mafia in the 1920s and 1930s - a subject not covered by the A-Level course.

Laura, who is in Year 13, said: "I feel very proud and grateful to have had my essay Commended, and I was pleasantly surprised to receive the news! The title of my essay is ‘Il Duce ha Sempre Ragione?’, (The Duce is always right).

"I chose to explore Mussolini’s campaigns against the Sicilian Mafia and evaluate their success/failure. I knew that I wanted to focus on Modern History and was interested in Italian History. My teacher, Mr Foster, helped me to narrow down ideas and suggested the Sicilian Mafia as a focus point. I really liked this suggestion and so decided to write my essay on this topic. The initial research for my essay took around a month, maybe longer to do the initial research for the topic and write the drafts. I finished the essay quite close to the wire. My essay is around 3,900 words. The word limit for the competition was 4,000, excluding referencing and the bibliography, and it was quite a challenge to meet this word count! I wish that the word count for the essay was longer, as I would have loved to continue exploring Mussolini’s rule in Italy."

Mr Foster, Teacher of History at King's Ely Senior and our Head of Year 11, said: "This Commendation is testament to Laura’s intellectual curiosity, commitment, and skill as a historian, and we are very proud of her achievement.

"Laura should also be commended for developing such a deep understanding of a complex period entirely through her own research. Her essay offered a nuanced analysis of the regime’s limited success in achieving its aims, highlighting the contrast between Mussolini’s public narrative of restoring law and order, and the more complicated reality."

Laura joined King's Ely Senior in Year 10 from another local independent school. She is studying History, Politics, and Fine Art for her A-Levels.

Laura said: "I would like to study History at University. I really enjoyed the process of writing this essay, and I am looking forward to writing similar essays at University. I would like to thank Mr Foster for his prompt feedback and continued support throughout the writing process!"