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Jason Arday, Cambridge Plagiarist, thread two

1000 replies

Angeruish · 08/08/2026 20:39

We are nearing our 1000-post limit on the original thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/education/5561878-jason-arday-cambridge-plagiarist?reply=153910946

I have now removed the question mark after "plagiarist".

I can't believe the sequel will be as good as the original, but you never know...

Jason Arday, Cambridge Plagiarist? | Mumsnet

I’m surprised to be the first to mention this, but what do people think about Jason Arday, the Cambridge professor accused of plagiarism, and the medi...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/education/5561878-jason-arday-cambridge-plagiarist?reply=153910946

OP posts:
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65
roxyro · 12/08/2026 09:46

LuckyHazelFox · 11/08/2026 13:24

I would need to see more of his work in that area to make more of an informed decision. On the surface, depending on how he presented his hypothesis, I see no issues. Isn't academia about exploring ideas, testing and pushing boundaries?

You would think.

Tootingbec · 12/08/2026 09:59

The more I read about this whole Jason Arday debacle the more I am reminded about the Peter Sellers satirical film “Being There”. Sellers plays a character called Chancy Gardener who rises up from being a pretty much mute, barely socially functioning gardener to be a US Presidential candidate! He hardly talks but what he does say is interpreted by various fawning powerful acolytes as deeply meaningful - his utterances being completely simplistic and literal (like “plants grow when the roots are healthy” sort of thing)

The only difference is that the Peter Sellers character is genuinely guileless and unworldly - unlike Jason Arday who has been clearly deliberate in his grift.

38thparallel · 12/08/2026 10:06

Those around him seem blindly credulous and are still not taking any responsibility.

This. Will they ever come out of hiding - or maybe they think if they ignore it all for long enough it will go away.
It’s certainly brought the subject of plagiarism and lying about qualifications to the fore - I bet there are some nervous academics wondering if they’ll be the next to be rumbled!

Boiledbeetle · 12/08/2026 10:21

I've added the images attached to the two tweets below.

https://x.com/i/status/2087379586216583278

Amazon has removed this paragraph from the description of Jason Arday's memoir, Great and Unfortunate Things, which was published Tuesday in the US:

"With the power of Educated and the emotional sweep of When Breath Becomes Air, this inspiring underdog story follows a nonverbal autistic boy—whom society had all but given up on—as he finds his voice, literally and figuratively, becomes one of the youngest professors in the University of Cambridge’s history, and ultimately puts himself in a position to give back."

https://x.com/i/status/2087382461655212126

Here's the old version:

Jason Arday, Cambridge Plagiarist, thread two
Jason Arday, Cambridge Plagiarist, thread two
Boiledbeetle · 12/08/2026 10:23

https://x.com/i/status/2087311138442625424

NEWS: Jason Arday Resigns From Multiple Trusteeships, But Not All
^^
In the wake of his resignation from Cambridge amid accusations of plagiarism and fabulism, Jason Arday has resigned as a director and trustee of two key organizations.
^^
Companies House filings posted today show he departed the British Sociological Association board effective Aug. 9 and the Autism Centre of Excellence (which operates as the charity Autism Action) effective Aug. 11. Autism Action has also removed him from the trustee page on its website.
^^
Curiously, Arday remains an active director of B.S.A. Publications Ltd., the BSA’s affiliated publishing company, which has filed no such termination. He also remains a director of Crosstown Traffic Ltd., which is apparently his personal company.

Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) on X

NEWS: Jason Arday Resigns From Multiple Trusteeships, But Not All In the wake of his resignation from Cambridge amid accusations of plagiarism and fabulism, Jason Arday has resigned as a director and trustee of two key organizations. Companies House...

https://x.com/i/status/2087311138442625424

EasternStandard · 12/08/2026 10:27

38thparallel · 12/08/2026 10:06

Those around him seem blindly credulous and are still not taking any responsibility.

This. Will they ever come out of hiding - or maybe they think if they ignore it all for long enough it will go away.
It’s certainly brought the subject of plagiarism and lying about qualifications to the fore - I bet there are some nervous academics wondering if they’ll be the next to be rumbled!

There must be a whole trail of academics and staff who were duped.

Peladon · 12/08/2026 11:02

@Tootingbec : yes - the key point about Chaucey Gardiner (who, IIRC, was someone mishearing him say "Chance, the gardener") was that he was an ingenu.

OneArtfulUmberSquid · 12/08/2026 11:14

pinkdelight · 12/08/2026 08:44

Exactly this. You can see it in that video where he claims to have been about to go and work for Sadiq Khan, but within the space of a few waffly sentences covers the gamut from how he was thinking of applying for a job, to having had an interview, to talking like he had an offer, but all at the same time so seems it was just something in his head that might have happened if he'd gone through with it.

He's found out that no one questions him and everyone likes the amazing stories so he trots them out with little thought or care about being realistic or consistent, same as he perched on those desks or sat on those zooms and blathered about kindness and celebs and got away with it under the banner of lived experience over academic knowledge and skills. And tbf he said that he didn't know what was going on and had the mind of a child and suchlike and people took this as some profound poetic statement and kept on raising him up.

So he kept on doing it. And is wily enough to use the police and hard lawyers to protect him from the consequences of his lies. I think it's more extraordinary that he's been caught out and been exposed than that he's got away with it. Those around him seem blindly credulous and are still not taking any responsibility.

Edited

Those around him seem blindly credulous and are still not taking any responsibility
They look completely foolish - not even that he was found out - but that they made an appointment where they then immediately went into PR over-drive to emphasise his amazing back story and triumph over adversity narrative as reflecting so well on them rather than actually addressing his academic credentials or detailing the exciting research he might be doing.

Jane379 · 12/08/2026 12:27

tramtracks · 12/08/2026 08:28

I agree with this. They are is a defamation specialist law firm - he was advised very well to instruct them. I haven’t had first hand experience of them but I am sure they will be monitoring and scraping the internet/social media for any mention of JA or his wife and family. If they aren’t then it will probably only be because the pockets of the instructing client won’t be deep enough.

Thank god for the likes of Private Eye and the Spectator etc who will stand up to threats to litigate.

I knew someone who worked part time (ex solicitor) as a cleaner for a defamation law firm. She was kept pretty busy - especially in the new(ish) age of superinjunctions. But she liked the wfh and the flexibility - so by the time I was chatting to her at a sports match at school - she’d had probably already fired off a few fear inducing emails to anyone uncovering the truth and trying to publish.

Edited

Thanks for the info, it's disturbing such grim firms have so much power. We need to reform libel law

This likely explains why there's such little info aside from articles about Jason's career.

Jane379 · 12/08/2026 12:28

Tootingbec · 12/08/2026 09:59

The more I read about this whole Jason Arday debacle the more I am reminded about the Peter Sellers satirical film “Being There”. Sellers plays a character called Chancy Gardener who rises up from being a pretty much mute, barely socially functioning gardener to be a US Presidential candidate! He hardly talks but what he does say is interpreted by various fawning powerful acolytes as deeply meaningful - his utterances being completely simplistic and literal (like “plants grow when the roots are healthy” sort of thing)

The only difference is that the Peter Sellers character is genuinely guileless and unworldly - unlike Jason Arday who has been clearly deliberate in his grift.

That's a really good film (book also good). Interpreting things as far more profound than they actually are is much too common now in academia..

Puzzledandpissedoff · 12/08/2026 12:40

EasternStandard · 12/08/2026 10:27

There must be a whole trail of academics and staff who were duped.

Or more likely allowed themselves to be duped in order to hew to the institutional diktat, EasternStandard?

This was after all no honest mistake, but a consequence of the malign mentality which allows no thought or questioning beyond what's sanctioned, and Cambridge will know perfectly well that their relative silence will allow this to "blow over" all the quicker

prh47bridge · 12/08/2026 13:19

OneArtfulUmberSquid · 12/08/2026 11:14

Those around him seem blindly credulous and are still not taking any responsibility
They look completely foolish - not even that he was found out - but that they made an appointment where they then immediately went into PR over-drive to emphasise his amazing back story and triumph over adversity narrative as reflecting so well on them rather than actually addressing his academic credentials or detailing the exciting research he might be doing.

Carter Ruck do not have any power to silence anyone. However, the threat of a possible libel suit from a reputable specialist company like this will make the press check that they are confident they can stand their story up in court if necessary before publishing it. I don't think we know enough about the evidence the journalist had, but it is possible that the lawyers at TES were overly cautious.

In what way do you think libel law needs to be reformed?

Mauvish1 · 12/08/2026 14:30

I believe it's not libellous to quote anyone directly.

So here's a few phrases direct from JA himself (via the "keynote" video); his words can speak for themselves:

"I taught myself how to be a sociologist"

"I'm not good at many things"

"I do not have any academic acumen whatsoever"

"The one thing that I am good at, pedagogically speaking, is making things simple to understand, but that's because my own level is, erm, is is it's modest"

This is all within the first 10 minutes of the video.

What's that aphorism - when people tell you who they are, listen to them?

tramtracks · 12/08/2026 14:33

Jane379 · 12/08/2026 12:27

Thanks for the info, it's disturbing such grim firms have so much power. We need to reform libel law

This likely explains why there's such little info aside from articles about Jason's career.

It’s not the libel law that needs to change.

Unfortunately in today’s climate of litigation even the most lightweight threat of litigation is to put the fear of god into a small underfunded publication or an individual.

The threat itself is as much a part of the process of shutting down fee speech.

Although the Daily Mail might not be everyone’s choice of reading material they, did at least, stand up to the unfounded litigation from Prince Harry et al. It is an almost financially destroying and emotionally damaging process to be up against a determined and well funded opponent. That is just a rare example of someone taking a case and fighting when they know they are ‘innocent’. It takes both deep pockets, time and determination. Most don’t have one of these. Free speech and the truth really matter. We will all be worse off without it.

In this case the TES or THE publications didn’t. They couldn’t or wouldn’t take the risk of litigation to support an important story.

As I mentioned before - private eye and other such publications should be absolutely protected - they stand up against the might of egregious litigation to protect free speech.

RafaFan · 12/08/2026 15:06

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/aug/12/cambridge-independent-inquiry-jason-arday-appointment
Cambridge has promised an independent inquiry. Not many details but it will involve "senior academics from within and beyond Cambridge." Were such academics not involved in Jason Arday's appointment in the first place? Hope they have some non-academics involved too.

Cambridge agrees to hold independent inquiry into Jason Arday appointment

Vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice says she recognises the ‘difficult case’ has damaged the university

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/aug/12/cambridge-independent-inquiry-jason-arday-appointment

Lunde · 12/08/2026 15:33

Tootingbec · 12/08/2026 09:59

The more I read about this whole Jason Arday debacle the more I am reminded about the Peter Sellers satirical film “Being There”. Sellers plays a character called Chancy Gardener who rises up from being a pretty much mute, barely socially functioning gardener to be a US Presidential candidate! He hardly talks but what he does say is interpreted by various fawning powerful acolytes as deeply meaningful - his utterances being completely simplistic and literal (like “plants grow when the roots are healthy” sort of thing)

The only difference is that the Peter Sellers character is genuinely guileless and unworldly - unlike Jason Arday who has been clearly deliberate in his grift.

That was a great movie - I wonder if Arday's "book deal" followed the same pattern as Being There....

Ron Steigler: Mr. Gardner, uh, my editors and I have been wondering if you would consider writing a book for us, something about your um, political philosophy, what do you say?
Chance the Gardener: I can't write.
Ron Steigler: Heh, heh, of course not, who can nowadays? Listen, I have trouble writing a postcard to my children. Look uhh, we can give you a six figure advance, I'll provide you with the very best ghost-writer, proof-readers...
Chance the Gardener: I can't read.
Ron Steigler: Of course you can't! No one has the time! We, we glance at things, we watch television...
Chance the Gardener: I like to watch TV.
Ron Steigler: Oh, oh, oh sure you do. No one reads!

Mauvish1 · 12/08/2026 15:59

Jason's level of understanding is, in his own words, "modest", so he feels that makes him good at simplifying things for other people.

This surely overlooks a massive detail - that if you don't understand something, you can't explain it, therefore you cannot teach it.

I presume that he must have failed to impart any nuance or depth of understanding to his students if he didn't understand those things himself.

I think I might apply for a Cambridge professorship, it seems an extraordinarily easy job!

Peladon · 12/08/2026 16:08

A PP seemed to suggest that threatening letters from solicitors have no power to silence people. With respect, I'm not sure what planet they are on.

tramtracks · 12/08/2026 16:25

Peladon · 12/08/2026 16:08

A PP seemed to suggest that threatening letters from solicitors have no power to silence people. With respect, I'm not sure what planet they are on.

They’ve obviously never received one.

The thought of your life being destroyed, losing all of your savings and assets, your reputation and being accused of lying. You need to be a very very carefree person to stand up to a strong threat of litigation. Most ppl and companies back down and settle.

keepincool · 12/08/2026 16:54

Puzzledandpissedoff · 12/08/2026 12:40

Or more likely allowed themselves to be duped in order to hew to the institutional diktat, EasternStandard?

This was after all no honest mistake, but a consequence of the malign mentality which allows no thought or questioning beyond what's sanctioned, and Cambridge will know perfectly well that their relative silence will allow this to "blow over" all the quicker

There will be a whole load more who weren't duped, but were aware that speaking out or questioning JA's claims would have resulted in accusations of racism. In much the same way that many gender critical staff in HE were fearful of raising concerns around trans policies.

prh47bridge · 12/08/2026 18:08

Peladon · 12/08/2026 16:08

A PP seemed to suggest that threatening letters from solicitors have no power to silence people. With respect, I'm not sure what planet they are on.

That was me. The point I was making is that a letter from a solicitor has no more legal weight than a letter from anyone else. A court can order you not to publish something. Carter Ruck cannot.

In this case, we are dealing with a letter to a publication. It was up to the publication's lawyers to decide whether they had the evidence to stand up their story in court if necessary. That is always a consideration regardless of whether Carter Ruck have sent a letter.

Given that TES Global, the publishers of TES, made a profit of £64M last year and have net assets of over £450M, I would not expect them to be intimidated by a letter from Carter Ruck. I don't know if their lawyers were overly cautious, but they clearly felt the journalist didn't have enough evidence to back up the story.

A smaller organisation may, of course, be intimidated by a letter from Carter Ruck, but it still has no legal weight. However, a smaller organisation may well decide it cannot face the prospect of a libel suit if one is threatened even if they do have enough evidence to back up the story. But if they are confident in their evidence and prepared to defend themselves, they can go ahead and publish. That is the approach generally taken by Private Eye, who don't have anything like the resources of TES.

ThunderFog · 12/08/2026 18:24

keepincool · 12/08/2026 16:54

There will be a whole load more who weren't duped, but were aware that speaking out or questioning JA's claims would have resulted in accusations of racism. In much the same way that many gender critical staff in HE were fearful of raising concerns around trans policies.

It's not about being duped though, or feeling anxious about being accused of racism (although that does happen). In any organisation, and specifically in academia, everyone has a job to do, and calling out a colleague is a distraction.

There may be an audit department whose job is quality control, but except for the rare places where there is a culture of honest reflection that welcomes challenge, any incompetence / fraud tends to be accepted and covered up.

If it's a black person being incompetent, anyone who asks might be told they seem racist, but if it's a white person or an anonymous entity being incompetent, some other reason may be given, or none.

My lived experience (ha ha) includes several examples. The best is probably when I looked at a numerical report and said to my boss "the numbers don't add up". She told me to bury it. I persisted, and all that happened was I stayed in a junior role while nicer people were promoted above me. It was the same software that generated the Post Office scandal.

In an academic situation, my MSc supervisor was very difficult and I had to request a change of supervisor. The second supervisor gave me zero feedback, just marked my thesis as a merit. It was very very clear that everyone in the department was aware of the (white male) supervisor. I didn't raise a complaint: I picked up my certificate and did no further study.

Some of the objections to the scrutiny of Arday's appointment seem to be calling for equal opportunities to be incompetent. Really what we should be thinking about is the cultural norms around whistleblowing or quality control. The Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice, might have some ideas around that as cultural norms her area of interest.

Boiledbeetle · 12/08/2026 18:32

"Magnus Okuonghae, 40, a former captain of Colchester United, who was also in the year below Arday at Heathbrook, said: “I don’t remember too much about him but I certainly recollect him being able to speak.” Both Stewart and Okuonghae said they were in touch with people who had been in Arday’s class."

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/12/jason-arday-cambridge-claim-non-verbal-child?CMP=share_btn_url

‘Always cracking jokes’: questions raised over Jason Arday’s claim he was non-verbal as a child

Fellow pupils at his primary school have challenged Cambridge academic’s story, though others support it

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/12/jason-arday-cambridge-claim-non-verbal-child?CMP=share_btn_url

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