Defence Merit Scholarship

The Defence Merit Scholarship is a prestigious scholarship offered by the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) for non-uniformed appointments in the organisation. Recipients will enjoy a highly rewarding and challenging career as a Defence Executive Officer (DXO) within MINDEF.

As a DXO, you will play a strategic role in the defence and security of Singapore. You will have opportunities to be involved in defence diplomacy to shape defence policies, or strengthen cyber resilience within the Defence Cyber Organisation. In communications, you will oversee MINDEF-wide public communications and public relations efforts to strengthen public trust in MINDEF and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). You can also explore strategic resource management, where you will plan and manage manpower, finance and other resources, or join the Manpower Division to develop and review policies for our servicemen.

You will serve Singapore and Singaporeans, and shape the lives of fellow Singaporeans as well as partake in designing the future of the SAF. You will play a critical role in defending our sovereignty and way of life.

Applications for the 2025 scholarship cycle have been opened since 1 August 2024, and will close on 30 April 2025. Shortlisted candidates have to undergo two rounds of interview – (1) selection board; and (2) the review board. The panel interviews are usually held from March to May each year. Candidates who are found suitable by MINDEF at the review board would be offered the Defence Merit Scholarship.

You may submit your scholarship application at https://go.gov.sg/mindef-saf-scholarship.

The selection board looks for candidates who are authentic with good character, passionate about contributing to the defence of Singapore and committed to serve Singaporeans through a challenging and fulfilling profession with MINDEF/SAF.

Yes, PRs who will take up Singapore Citizenship can apply for the scholarship. They should be Singapore Citizens should they be successful to be awarded the scholarship.

Yes, MINDEF benchmarks the results of such equivalent qualifications against that of the GCE ‘A’ levels.

The bond is six years for overseas studies and four years for local studies. It will take immediate effect after you graduate and commence work in MINDEF. Consistent with other scholarship awarding agencies where a bond is imposed, the period of studies is not counted towards the fulfilment of the bond.

For male DMS recipients, a period of your National Service will be counted towards the fulfilment of the bond. The duration counted will be five or ten months, depending on the period of service, and subject to a minimum effective bond period of three and a half years in Service. This is to ensure that there would be sufficient length of time for recipients to gain exposure within MINDEF and for job assessment.

You are expected to apply for universities of your choice as admission is dependent on individual merit. You should also arrange to sit for the necessary pre-admission tests such as the SAT, where necessary.

You may request for an extension of the deadline on the basis that you are being considered for a scholarship and are pending an outcome. Many established universities are familiar with our scholarship selection process and are likely to consider an extension.

All male DMS recipients must complete their full-time National Service (NS) before they proceed for studies. Female DMS recipients may proceed for studies in the year they are awarded the DMS.

As a guide, you may depart for studies in August/September if you are proceeding to US universities, and end September if you are proceeding to UK universities. If you choose to pursue your studies in other countries, your departure date would commensurate with the course commencement date.

*Option for NS disruption on a case-by-case basis

Yes, you are allowed to pursue a Master’s Degree in most disciplines (except Medicine, Dentistry and Architecture) if you meet the eligibility criteria and complete it within the stipulated study period of four years.

You can pursue a double major if you are able to complete your studies within the stipulated study period of four years.

You can choose the university and course of your study (with the exception of professional courses such as architecture, medicine, dentistry etc.). You may pursue a degree in Law. However, you will not be called to the Bar while serving in MINDEF.

Yes, DMS recipients are required to return for at least one internship during their vacation period. You will be exposed to the operations of MINDEF and given the opportunity to interact with other Defence Executive Officers (DXOs) and learn from their experiences during the internship. Some of the areas we deploy our DMS recipients during their internship include Defence Relations, Finance, Human Resource, National Education or MINDEF systems, for a period of at least 8 weeks. You may also request to intern with external organisations, however these requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

MINDEF is akin to a “mini civil service” offering a variety of jobs in areas such as Defence Relations, Human Resource, Finance, National Education, Cyber Defence, Communications and Policy Formulation. Upon graduation, you can look forward to the opportunity of working in the afore-mentioned areas.

You can state your preferences prior to joining MINDEF. However, your actual deployment would depend on the availability of positions of your choice in the organisation, as well as the organisation’s needs.

Nonetheless, you will be rotated to various areas of work throughout your career in MINDEF. This will broaden your horizon, give you more exposure and prepare you for greater challenges in the long run.

As you will be under the DXO scheme of service, the priority will be to groom you for senior management positions within MINDEF. To do so, it will be important to give you the breadth of exposure through internal postings within MINDEF. Given the size of MINDEF and the variety of jobs that we can offer, internal posting within MINDEF will be as challenging and varied as any inter-Ministry posting. Other than the diverse skills and competencies built from your varied postings, you will also build up generic competencies like problem solving, communication skills, leadership, organisational acumen, etc.

Where opportune, DXOs who have performed exceptionally well and have shown potential may be considered for the Public Service Leadership Programme, where they may look forward to inter-agency postings which will support their career development.

As a DMS recipient, you will be contributing in policy formulation and playing a strategic role in the defence of Singapore. You will not be directly involved in military training and operations.