I've only just found out about the need to keep a log book. Can I complete the log book retrospectively?

There is not an easy answer to this one. In principle, the answer we want to give is "Yes", but it depends on whether you had any level of mentoring during the last few years, and whether you are qualified to be a Graduate or Associate Member. So let's look at each case in turn.

You graduated from a Qualifying Course, you are currently (or could be) a Graduate Member and you are or have been working closely with somebody who acted as your 'unofficial' mentor, (i.e. 'unofficial' from our perspective) for at least one year. This is a case when we would say "Yes, you can complete the log book retrospectively". Remember to ask your colleague (or ex-colleague) to be your mentor and ask them to complete the mentor's report. Make sure your mentor fulfils our requirements for suitable mentors too.

You are currently (or could be) an Associate Member, and you are or have been working closely with somebody who acted as your 'unofficial' mentor, for at least two years. Again this is a case when we would say "Yes, you can complete the log book retrospectively". Ask your colleague (or ex-colleague) to be your mentor and ask them to complete the mentor's report.

You are currently (or could be) a Graduate or Associate Member BUT you are not, nor have you been, working closely with somebody who could act as your mentor. These are the cases where we would have to say, "No, we feel it's difficult to complete your log book retrospectively". We need you to demonstrate the relevant period of mentoring (1 year for Graduate members, 2 years for Associates). So your first task is to find a mentor. You should be able to include some or all of the work you did before the mentoring period in your log book, but we'd also like to see evidence from both the mentoring period and afterwards, so that we can see the mentor's impact.