You can join online or by phone on 020 7346 0900 www.bectu.org.uk/join

You need to be a member of BECTU before joining the Grip Branch. Visit the Sign-Up Page. (www.gripsbranch.org.uk/sign-up) You will be asked to provide a valid BECTU membership number. Once we receive your application, we will check your membership status, details and process it accordingly. Please do not sign-up via this page if you want to become a Grip Trainee. You will need to apply to become a Trainee here. (www.gripsbranch.org.uk/becoming-a-trainee)

Please contact one of the great Diary Services to find excellent Grips and Technicians. If you have had no luck doing this and wish to submit a job advertisement via our membership please click below. Please ensure rates comply with our rate card. If they don’t, they will not be submitted.

If your issue relates to a job offering rate below the rate card or not adhering to Terms and Conditions, please use the "Report a Job" button in the members area or via the App. If your issue relates to Terms and Conditions on an existing job, please use the Discussion Forum or post about it in a relevant Community Group, to discuss and report the issue. If its urgent or relates to anything else, please contact us directly via the website's contact button, App chat or email (info@gripsbranch.org.uk).

Click the button in the bottom right hand corner of the screen labelled "Member's Chat", or if you're on your mobile the speech bubble icon. Then from the list, click on "Grip's Branch UK" at the top of the list. Type your message in the box and press "Enter" Alternatively you can email us at info@gripsbranch.org.uk

You apply by contacting Martin Horsted at Bucks College Group mhorsted@buckscollegegroup.ac.uk or by filling out our Enquiry Form on the qualification information pages.

When you receive your portfolio, you will be expected to immediately begin to put it together. You have a tight timeframe of 12 months to complete your qualification, so its important to get going as soon as possible. You should also make contact with your assessor unless they've contacted you already, and set out your in-person assessments. The sooner they are completed the sooner you can get all the other questions you have answered to complete your portfolio.

In order to change your badge please contact us with evidence of why you need to change your badge. We endearvour to automatically change badges when we're informed of Trainees progressing to Uncertified Grips, Qualifcations that have been passed and other factors.

You must have signed up via the website before downloading the app. Visit the App Store on your smart phone and search for "Grips Branch UK".

You can manage your notifications from within the app. Press on the notifications icon in the top right corner of the screen. Then press three dots in the same place and select "Notification Settings." Please be careful not to turn off Announcements as thats the system we will be using to notify mobile app users of urgent Branch business.

You can manage the e-mails you recieve in your members settings. Make sure you're logged in, and select your name at the top of the page (in the navigation menu on mobiles). Select "Notification Settings". Then switch off the notifications you do not want to receive. You will still receive certain emails from the Grips Branch as part of the terms and conditions of your membership. This will never be Spam or advertising for 3rd Parties.

Our Trainee intake is closed for 2024. Please check back for our 2025 intake opening.

We suggest that you start entering into your log book from the first job you have done. The format is monthly, in order to help you to get as much detail into it as you can. This will help you to record your training for use in your qualification portfolio. If a job lasts 3 weeks, then that is 1 post. If a job is 12 weeks, then that job would be posted over 3 posts in order to record the detail. If you have done several jobs in a month, just log them all in 1 post, listing the names and Grips you worked with. Try and log the number of days worked as accurately as you can so we can assess whether you’ve achieved the minimum number of days we recommend to progress. Remember, its not just about length of traineeship, quality is important, so the more grips you work with and the more different types of jobs you do, the better your learning will be. Mix it up and good luck.

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