RECRUITING TALENT, DEVELOPING LEADERS

PSC Scholarships - A Gateway to Public Service Careers

The PSC awards full scholarships to outstanding young men and women who are committed to serving Singapore through a career in the Public Service. The PSC Scholarships are open to applicants at various points in their education journey and offer three main career paths – Public Administration, Professional Service and Uniformed Service. Successful applicants may be awarded the scholarship prior to their undergraduate studies, during their undergraduate studies (as a mid-term scholarship recipient) or after completing their undergraduate studies with no more than three years of working experience in the private or people sectors (as a Master’s scholarship recipient). The multiple entry points have enabled the PSC to recruit scholarship holders with diverse perspectives and backgrounds.

Public Administration

Recipients of the PSC Scholarship or PSC Master’s Scholarship will assume a role in Public Administration. They are not tied to a specific Ministry at the start of their scholarship journey and can be deployed across different agencies after graduation. The Public Administration pathway provides scholarship holders the opportunity to develop as a leader and gain experience in multiple sectors of the Public Service.

PSC introduced the PSC Scholarship (Sustainability) under the Public Administration career pathway in 2023. Recipients of the PSC Scholarship (Sustainability) or PSC Master’s Scholarship (Sustainability) will develop domain capabilities in sustainability and circularity and contribute to realising Singapore’s vision of a sustainable and future-ready nation. They will be deployed across different agencies to work on initiatives relating to the circular and green economy, coastal protection, biodiversity, urban heat issues and sustainable land use, to name a few.

Professional Service

Some candidates have a clear focus and interest in the career path they wish to pursue. The Professional Service pathway develops scholarship holders for a specific career in Engineering, Foreign Service, Judicial Service/Legal Service, Medicine, Public Finance or Teaching Service. Recipients of these scholarships return to serve in the respective agencies linked to their scholarships and are guided and developed in line with their professional tracks.

Uniformed Service

The PSC also awards the Singapore Armed Forces Scholarship (SAFS) and the Singapore Police Force Scholarship (SPFS) to outstanding young men and women who respond to the call of defending the nation and are committed to maintaining peace and stability, and law and order in our country.

SAFS holders are systematically trained and developed to assume key command and staff appointments in the SAF, while SPFS holders are groomed to lead the Home Team in upholding law, maintaining order and keeping peace in Singapore.

In 2023, the PSC announced the extension of the SAFS and SPFS to mid-term applicants to further diversify the range of scholarship offerings beyond the pre-university levels. This provides promising candidates, who may decide on an SAF or SPF career during university, the opportunity to apply for the mid-term scholarship from 2024 onwards.

Identifying Talent

The PSC adopts a rigorous process to select scholarship holders and considers a range of information from multiple sources. These include the candidate’s personal statement, school report, achievements in Co-Curricular Activities, community involvement, academic results and other notable achievements. The holistic assessment brings out key factors the PSC seeks in candidates, including leadership potential, resilience, diversity of experience, aptitude, passion and fit for a Public Service career. The PSC has adopted a range of tools, allowing the selection panel an insight into some of the non-intellectual and whole person traits of our applicants. The PSC continually reviews its battery of tools for scholarship selection and enhances it to ensure that the right talent is selected.

The PSC provides updated information on the PSC Scholarships and Public Service careers to our stakeholders through regular meetings with school leaders, as well as sessions for students and their parents.

In 2023, the PSC expanded its annual Scholarship Information Session to a Whole-Of-Government Scholarship Fair involving over 40 agencies. The scholarship fair provided a ‘one-stop’ platform for prospective scholarship applicants and their parents to learn more about the careers and scholarships offered by the various agencies. Key overseas education partners were also invited to share on the tertiary education opportunities in France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The PSC works in close partnership with agencies, schools, universities and self-help community groups to reach out to a diverse profile of candidates and raise awareness of the scholarship and career options available in the Public Service. In 2023, the PSC established the Alumni Network which brought together over 160 volunteers from the Public Service talent programmes to complement and support engagement and partnership efforts. Over the past year, the Network has supported close to 20 initiatives and engaged a diverse range of student profiles through school engagement sessions and leadership programmes.

2023 PSC Scholarship Recipients

In 2023, 65 scholarship recipients proceeded for studies – 32 on the Public Administration track, 26 on the Professional Service track and 7 on the Uniformed Service track (Table 2). Details of their courses and countries of study are in Table 3 and Table 4 respectively.

*Including mid-term scholarships

President’s Scholarship

The PSC awards the President’s Scholarship – Singapore’s most prestigious undergraduate scholarship. The President’s Scholarship is awarded on top of a public sector scholarship. It recognises individuals who have stood out among their cohort, demonstrating excellence in their pursuits. Recipients of the President’s Scholarship have shown dedication to improving the lives of Singaporeans and exemplifying the ethos of the Public Service.

In 2023, there were three recipients of the President’s Scholarship (Table 5).