Jason Arday’s resignation poses questions about standards and a push for diversity, writes education editor Branwen Jeffreys.

Arday has admitted errors in his work, but says he has faced "an unrelenting level of public scrutiny and personal attack" and is not a "liar" The University of Cambridge is facing serious questions about its academic standards and push for diversity after its youngest black professor resigned amid allegations of copying other academics' research. Jason Arday's appointment in 2023 was hailed at the time as a progressive moment. Now, Cambridge says it has launched an investigation after "new information" emerged about his academic qualifications and honorary appointments. Did it fail to adequately check Arday's credentials when appointing him, and did it defend that decision because of an institutional push to position itself as more diverse? For one of the world's leading universities known for academic excellence and globally significant research, this is about its institutional culture and decision-making at the highest level. The biggest reputational risk surrounds the accusations of academic plagiarism now under investigation - and denied by Arday - because they get to the heart of what a university is about. The University of Cambridge uses the common definition of plagiarism as "passing off someone else's work as if it were your own without appropriate acknowledgement". One of the fundamental purposes of a research-led university is the creation of knowledge through original thinking, insights and inquiry.