内容摘要：Les, who is 47 and from Chorley in Lancashire, says he struggled to understand what they were going through - partly because he did not do A-levels or apply to university himself.

Les, who is 47 and from Chorley in Lancashire, says he struggled to understand what they were going through - partly because he did not do A-levels or apply to university himself.

There are no UK-wide figures for the number of apprentices, but there were 752,200 in England in 2023, which is higher than during disruption from the Covid pandemic, but lower than in the mid-2010s.A statue to honour the late politician Jennie Lee has been proposed, to celebrate her role in establishing The Open University (OU).

Milton Keynes Council is inviting artists to submit ideas for the statue, which would be installed in the city centre.Baroness Lee of Asheridge was part of a group that created a white paper recommending the university's creation.Prof Josie Fraser, interim vice-chancellor of OU, said: "Jennie Lee's passion for making quality education possible for all, regardless of background, was foundational in the creation and mission of the OU.

"Over 50 years later, we still carry that mission and Jennie's determination at the heart of all that we do."In the paper, Baroness Lee, who was a Labour MP in two stints from 1929 to 1970, said: "The government has decided to establish a university of the air, that is to say, an open university.

"There can be no question of offering to students a makeshift project, inferior in quality to other universities. That would defeat its whole purpose."

Her vision was a platform that would allow students to learn from home, using posted learning materials alongside TV and radio programmes.The first pontiff to use the name Leo, whose papacy ended in 461, met Attila the Hun and persuaded him not to attack Rome.

The last Pope Leo led the Church from 1878 to 1903 and wrote an influential treatise on workers' rights.Former Archbishop of Boston Seán Patrick O'Malley wrote on his blog that the new pontiff "has chosen a name widely associated with the social justice legacy of Pope Leo XIII, who was pontiff at a time of epic upheaval in the world, the time of the industrial revolution, the beginning of Marxism, and widespread immigration".

The new Pope's LGBT views are unclear, but some groups, including the conservative College of Cardinals, believe he may be less supportive than Francis.Leo XIV has shown support for a declaration from Francis to permit blessings for same-sex couples and others in "irregular situations", although he has added that bishops must interpret such directives in accordance with local contexts and cultures.