Diverse academia

Jason Arday was heralded as Cambridge’s youngest-ever black professor when appointed professor of sociology of education in 2023. How many ethnic-minority staff are there at UK universities?

– In 2024/25 there were 244,755 academic staff working in British universities. Of these, 26% were recorded as being of ethnic minority. In the same year, 16% of the UK population identified as ethnic minority.

– Of 23,900 professors, 14% were ethnic minority.

– Between 2023/24 and 2024/25 the number of professors of ethnic minority increased by 4%, while the number of professors who are white rose by 1%.

– While HESA statistics subdivide ethnic minorities into ‘black’ and other groups, they are only listed in bands to the closest five. This gives a total of 270 black professors, although the real total could be higher or lower than this.

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency  

Water, water, everywhere

How much water is lost to leakage? In 2024/25 some 19% of water leaked before reaching the consumer. The worst companies for leakage were:

Thames Water 22.5%

United Utilities 22.2%

Wessex Water 20.7%

Yorkshire Water 20.4%

And the best were…

Bristol Water 13.4%

Cambridge Water 12.7%

SES Water 12.7%

Essex & Suffolk Water 11.8%

Source: Environment Agency

Ceuta survey

Who lives in Ceuta?

– In 2025, the population of the Spanish enclave was 83,567, of whom 94% were Spanish citizens and 68% were born in Ceuta itself.

– Approximately 60% spoke Spanish as their first language and 40% Arabic.

– 51% were Christian and 48% Muslim.

– In 2024, 2,881 migrated there and 2,664 emigrated, giving net migration of 217.

Gas meter

How expensive is petrol in Britain?

– In June UK motorists paid an average of 155.6 pence per litre. The most expensive petrol in Europe was (in pence):

Denmark 206.7

Netherlands 193.2

Finland 191.3

The cheapest countries were…

Malta 115.8

Poland 121.6