Training days

Our training days are an important step before voluntering for FRU. They introduce you to the relevant law and tribunal procedure, as well as explaining how FRU works.

You must take out your first case within one year of attending a training day.

Future Training Days

The last set of training took place in May 2024.

We have arranged our training sessions for October 2024 and the dates are below.  We will announce when booking will open nearer the time.  We would encourage you to keep a check on our website as we will always give notice on the news and training day pages of when training day bookings will open.

Social Security - 12th - 13th October 2024

When booking opens you can sign up via the login page on our website.  

The training will consist of a series of webinars in which speakers will present information about the law and tribunal procedure and will also answer questions from the participants. You will be sent some training materials to help you follow the webinars.  Some pre-reading of this material may be required.

Virtual attendance is compulsory.  If you have trouble attending because of religious, health or other exceptional reasons please email us in advance at admin@thefru.org.uk so we can discuss and make the necessary arrangements.

Recordings of the sessions will be made available within a couple of weeks and can be viewed for a short period of time for those who want to watch again.  However, watching these does not replace live attendance unless it has been agreed with us in advance and on an individual basis.

While the FRU office is open we continue to do much of our work remotely. However, you will need to be available to attend the hearing in person or come into the office if required.

Although the FRU office has reopened and new cases are coming through, neither referrals or our ability to supervise cases have returned to pre-Covid levels. We don't want to provide places if there is no realistic prospect of volunteering with us. Our aim is to ensure that anyone who attends the training and passes the test will have a reasonable opportunity to take on a case.  

Our priority is to help as many people as we can, while keeping our staff, volunteers and clients safe.

Booking

Once booking is open, go to FRUOnline, our online booking system. There is a £60 fee to attend.

Before booking, please check that you are eligible to volunteer.

Unless you have already registered as a user on FRUOnline, you will need to register as part of the booking process. Note that registering to receive emails about future training days is not the same as registering on FRUOnline.

If when attempting to book, you receive the message "invalid email address" you have probably already registered. Click on "Forgotten Password" to recover your login details.

Cancellations

You can cancel your training day booking through your FRUOnline account. You will receive a refund. You will be charged a £5 cancellation fee (because of the work involved in processing the cancellation and bank charges). We do not provide refunds for cancellations received less than 48 hours before the training day.

When places on a training day are cancelled, they become available again automatically. If a training day is fully booked it is worth checking the website again later.

Reasonable Adjustments

Those who are unable, for religious or other exceptional reasons, to attend our training should send an email telling us why and which day they are unable to attend and which area of law they wish to train in to admin@thefru.org.uk.  This should be sent to us in advance of booking opening in order for us to answer in time for you to be able book your place.