Got a 1.5 tdci 5 speed focus, 16 plate. Had it for around 2 months and have had an issue with reverse gear slipping mainly when reversing on an incline. It doesn’t do it 100% of the time but guaranteed to be on every start whilst pulling off the drive which has an incline. 
 

is this a common issue? What sort of things would typically to be the cause of this? Every other gear is fine and smooth it’s just reverse. 

Hi,

Don't think they put a 5 speed in the 1.5 TDCI Focus?  Should be 6 speed.

Manual gears can't slip, so either the clutch is slipping, or the gear isn't fully selected to start with.  Reverse is often more difficult to select when cold so I suspect that's what's happening here.  If you select another gear first, that might help it slip in more easily.  Easiest option is probably just to reverse in so you can drive out forward.

Apologies yes I meant 6 speed. I’d imagine if it was the clutch then it would happen with forward gears also? Just going off keeping it held in at the minute when reversing off so it doesn’t pop out which kind of forces it in mid reverse but doesn’t make the best noise 

1 minute ago, Harriers1886 said:

Apologies yes I meant 6 speed. I’d imagine if it was the clutch then it would happen with forward gears also? Just going off keeping it held in at the minute when reversing off so it doesn’t pop out which kind of forces it in mid reverse but doesn’t make the best noise 

Yeah that's fairly standard.  As it's popping out, the gear just isn't selected fully to start with.  Can be caused by a dragging clutch, but in this case it sounds like it's just a cold gearbox.

If you select first and then reverse, that can help it in when cold.

There's nothing broken as such, so nothing to fix, just need to adapt your technique or reverse in while the gearbox is warm.