Big issue with cloneable fields

On my frontend form and in my admin, it no longer recognises that the field is valid on all cloneable fields. I have a few fields that are required and there were no issues, but it seems all of a sudden there is a big issue.

 //Likely syntax errors as I copied and pasted relevant parts from complex form
function the_research_form( $meta_boxes ) {
    $prefix = '';
    $is_admin = (is_admin() && (current_user_can('administrator') || current_user_can('admin_limited') || current_user_can('acume_team')));
    $required = true; 
	$logic = 'and';
    if ($is_admin) {
        $required = false;
		$logic = 'or';
    };

    $meta_boxes[] = [
        'title'      => __( 'Academic: Research Summary', 'your-text-domain' ),
        'id'         => 'academic-research-summary',
        'post_types' => ['research'],
        'tabs'       => [
            'page_1'  => [
                'label' => 'Get Started', 
                'icon'  => '',
                'class' => 'page_1',
            ],

            'page_2'  => [
                'label' => 'Purpose + Takeaways',
                'icon'  => '',
                'class' => 'page_2',
            ],],
        'fields'     => [[
    'name'       => __( 'Key points', 'your-text-domain' ),
    'id'         => $prefix . 'academickey_learnings',
    'type'       => 'group',
    'clone'      => true,
   'sort_clone' => true,
   'min_clone'  => 1,
    'max_clone'  => 8,
    'add_button' => __( 'Add another key point', 'your-text-domain' ),
    'class'      => 'rs_p2 repeatable-section',
    'fields'     => [   
        [
            'name'          => __( 'Learning', 'your-text-domain' ),
            'id'            => $prefix . 'academiclearning',
            'type'          => 'textarea',
            'placeholder'   => __( 'Type your insight here..', 'your-text-domain' ),
            'required'      => $required,
            'textarea_rows' => 2,

            'class' => 'hide-label group-fields',
        ],

    ],
'tab'        => 'page_2',
],
[
    'name'      => __( 'Key findings', 'your-text-domain' ),
    'id'        => $prefix . 'academicfindings',
    'type'      => 'group',
    'clone'     => true,
   'min_clone' => 1,
    'max_clone' => 10,
    'tab'       => 'page_3',
  'sort_clone' => true,
    'add_button' => __( 'Add another finding', 'your-text-domain' ),
    'class'     => 'rs_p3 repeatable-section',
    'collapsible' => true,
      'default_state' => 'expanded',
    'group_title' => 'Finding ({#})',
    'fields'    => [
        [
            'type'  => 'custom_html',
            'std'  => __( 'State key finding', 'your-text-domain' ),
            'class' => 'sub-instruction-class-header',
        ],
        [
            'name'     => __( 'Finding', 'your-text-domain' ),
            'id'       => $prefix . 'academicfinding',
            'type'     => 'text',
            'placeholder'   => __( 'Key finding..', 'your-text-domain' ),
             'class' => 'group-fields',
            'required' => $required,
            
        ],
        [
            'type'  => 'custom_html',
            'std'  => __( 'Provide quotable evidence to support your finding (e.g., statistic, percentage, observed pattern)', 'your-text-domain' ),
            'class' => 'sub-instruction-class-group',
        ],
        [
            'name'    => __( 'Evidence', 'your-text-domain' ),
            'id'      => $prefix . 'academicfinding_evidence',
            'class' => 'group-fields',
            'placeholder'   => __( 'Add quotable evidence..', 'your-text-domain' ),
            'type'    => 'textarea',
        ],
                          [
            'type'  => 'custom_html',
            'std'  => __( 'Explain why this finding matters', 'your-text-domain' ),
            'class' => 'sub-instruction-class-group',
        ],
        [
            'name'    => __( 'Explain', 'your-text-domain' ),
            'id'      => $prefix . 'academicfinding_matters',
            'class' => 'group-fields',
            'type'    => 'textarea',
            'placeholder'   => __( 'Briefly explain..', 'your-text-domain' ),
        ],

    ],
],

     ],

        'validation' => [
            'rules'  => [
  
                'academiclearning' => [
                    'required' => true,
                ],
                'academicfinding' => [
                    'required' => true,
                ],
       
            ],
            'messages' => [
      
                'academiclearning' => [
                    'required' => 'At least one takeaway is required',
                ],
                'academicfinding' => [
                    'required' => 'Must state finding',
                ],
  
            ],
        ],
    ];

    return $meta_boxes;
};

I feel I have exhausted my debugging. I have:
- Tried without validation.
- Removed custom js.
- Removed functions.php disabled
- Rolled back to the last metabox version.
- Disabled caching plugins
- Obviously cleared the cache between tests

Nothing in error_log, nothing relevant in console. This used to work - any ideas??