SAF Merit Scholarship

The SAF Merit Scholarship is a top tier military scholarship offered by MINDEF/SAF. The SAF Scholarship, on the other hand, is jointly offered by the Public Service Commission (PSC) and MINDEF/SAF. Applicants of The SAF Scholarship will go through PSC’s selection process, and suitable candidates will be referred to MINDEF/SAF for further assessment.

Both scholarships will equip you with a world-class education and provide many opportunities to hone your skills as a leader, manager and strategist. You will be trained to meet the challenges of the new security environment and to lead your people to fulfil the mission. You will serve Singapore and Singaporeans, and shape the lives of those you work with, as well as the future of the SAF. Most importantly, you will play a critical role in defending our sovereignty and way of life.

For Males: Applications for the 2025 scholarship cycle have been opened since 1 August 2024, and will close on 30 April 2025. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview to assess your suitability for the scholarship after being commissioned as an officer.

For Females: Applications for the 2026 scholarship open on 1 April 2025, and close on 31 August 2025. You are strongly encouraged to apply in the final year of your studies, as successful candidates (offered the scholarship provisionally) are required to go through Basic Military Training (BMT) in January. There will be up to three rounds of interviews. (1) The first round of interview will be held in September/October to assess your suitability for the scholarship. Successful candidates will be offered the scholarship on a provisional basis before enlisting for BMT the following year. (2) Selected candidates may be requested to attend a second round of interview to assess their fit for the military and assess their academic performance. (3) The final round of interview will in June to assess your military performance in OCS, before your scholarship is confirmed.

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

The selection board looks for candidates with leadership potential, sound character, commitment to serve Singapore and Singaporeans, and a keen interest to pursue a challenging and fulfilling profession with MINDEF/SAF.

As we are looking for bright young talent to take up top leadership appointments in the SAF, you must perform well in BMT, and qualify for OCS. Failure to gain entry to OCS would be a veto criterion for the scholarship.

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/SAF benchmarks the results of such equivalent qualifications against that of the GCE ‘A’ levels.

The bond is six years and will take immediate effect after you graduate and return to service. Consistent with other scholarship awarding agencies where bond is imposed, the period of studies is not counted towards the fulfilment of the bond.

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.

For Males: You will be eligible to disrupt for studies upon being commissioned as an officer.

For Females: You may disrupt for studies in the same year as your female counterparts who did not enlist, upon completion of your Service Term in Officer Cadet School (OCS). You will then return to complete your OCS Professional Term after completion of your studies. Alternatively, you may choose to complete your full OCS training before departing for studies.

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 disruption date would commensurate with the course commencement date.

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 the SAF.

Currently, the SAF recalls our scholars during the summer vacation for attachments in SAF units as well as developmental programmes organised by PSC. Through this, you can keep updated with the developments in the SAF. Also, you will be assigned a mentor prior to graduation, who will be attached to you for several years upon your return from studies. You will be scheduled for route of advancement courses to prepare you to take up your respective appointments upon return.

For females, you may indicate which Service you would like to join, while for the males, you will carry on in the Service that as you have already been commissioned in.

As a SAF Merit Scholarship recipient, you will be put in appointments where you will be constantly challenged to apply your analytical skills and ground experience. Through various tours you will not only hone your skills as a leader, but also as a manager, a planner and a strategist. You will be equipped with valuable skill sets and strong leadership competencies to tackle myriad challenges such as organisational management, project management, competency development, people development, resource management, and incident management.

You can expect to contribute to long-term planning that determines MINDEF/SAF’s future development. You will also have the chance to represent MINDEF/SAF to work with officers from the other Ministries to formulate government policies at the national level. All in, the job nature is extremely challenging and offers a wide spectrum of variety.

As you are applying for a military scholarship, it is mandatory for you to undergo military training in order for us to assess your suitability as military leader. At the same time, we recognise that serving in the military is a path less trodden.

During BMT, you will be training with other female trainees. You will be equipped with basic soldiering skills and can expect to go through key events such as field camp, grenade throwing, urban operations to name a few. You will also be trained physically and inculcated with a sense of military discipline.

Training would be tough but you would develop resilience and fitness through endurance and physical training exercises so that you can cope with the training both physically and mentally. With a positive mind set and strong bonds forged with your platoon mates, you will be able to pull through the training and excel in BMT.

During officer cadet training, you will pick up knowledge of military management and be given the opportunity to hone your leadership skills and capability as a commander.

We recognise that joining the SAF is a big leap from your civilian life, and everyone will start off with differing fitness levels. As such, the SAF adopts a progressive training approach to level everyone up to the requisite fitness level. With a positive mind-set, good teamwork and the bonds forged with your platoon mates, we are certain that it will help you pull through the training and excel in BMT.

Entry into OCS is based on numerous considerations such as organisational requirements, your military performance, your commanders’ recommendations, education qualifications and medical fitness.