Frequently Asked Questions

Both scholarships allow you to pursue engineering or related courses. The main differences between a PSC Scholarship and a PSC Scholarship (Engineering) lies in the career pathway.

The PSC Scholarship (Engineering) is designed for persons with a clear interest for a specialised engineering careers in the Public Service. The PSC Scholarship (Engineering) develops individuals for leadership positions in the engineering and technology sectors in the Public Service. This scholarship offers you opportunities to work in three broad Engineering clusters; namely (i) Defence and Security (D&S), (ii) Information and Communications Technology and Smart Systems (ICT&SS), and (iii) Infrastructure and Environment (I&E).

During your studies, you will be offered developmental programmes (including internships) organised by your engineering parent agency as well as PSC. Your parent agency will closely mentor and guide you in your field of study, and after you return from your studies, you will join your parent agency to build foundational expertise in your technical field.

In comparison, the PSC Scholarship is designed to build broad-based skills in policy formulation in the early part of your career. Under the PSC Scholarship, the initial years of your civil service career would be geared towards developing you as a generalist policy leader in the initial phase, though there would be opportunities to specialise in specific sectors subsequently if you are found suitable.

While both scholarships allow you to pursue an Accountancy degree, there are differences in the career pathways between a PSC Scholarship and a PSC Scholarship (Public Finance).

The PSC Scholarship (Public Finance) is designed for persons with a clear interest in a specialised finance career in the Public Service, particularly in accounting and auditing. As this scholarship aims to develop individuals for leadership positions in the finance sector of the Public Service, you will be tied to either the Accountant-General's Department (AGD) or Auditor-General's Office (AGO) as your parent agency. During your studies, you will participate in developmental programmes (including internships) organised by the PSC as well as your parent agency. Your parent agency will closely mentor and guide you. After you return from your studies, you will join your parent agency in the first 2 years to build foundational expertise. There will also be opportunities for you to be posted to other agencies to gain broader perspectives on managing fiscal resources.

In comparison, the PSC Scholarship provides the opportunity to build broad-based skills in policy formulation in the early part of your career and is geared towards growing you as a generalist policy leader.

The PSC Scholarship (Public Finance) aims to develop individuals for leadership positions in the finance sector of the Public Service. You will be emplaced onto the Public Service Leadership Programme (PSLP), subject to meeting criteria, and will be given opportunities to be posted to other agencies to expand your understanding of other functions in public finance.

In comparison, the AGO/AGD scholarships are aimed primarily at developing individuals with deep domain expertise for leadership positions as determined by these organisations.

In terms of the country of study, the PSC Scholarship (Public Finance) is tenable for local or overseas studies in Accountancy whereas the AGD Accountancy Scholarship and the AGO Auditing Service Scholarship are tenable for Accountancy courses in local universities only.

The PSC recognises that you may only discover your career interest at a later stage in your life. Such applicants may apply as a Mid-term candidate to the PSC Scholarships (excluding Uniformed Service and the PSC Master's Scholarship) after they have completed at least one semester/year of their undergraduate study and if they are not in their final year.

This is a full scholarship which includes tuition fees and maintenance allowance. The bond period is 4 years for local universities, 5 years for studies in non-English speaking countries and 6 years for studies in English-speaking countries. The bond period for the PSC Scholarship (Medicine) or PSC Scholarship (Dentistry) is 6 years, starting from Postgraduate Year 1.

The PSC Master's Scholarship is open to undergraduates or recent graduates with no more than 3 years of working experience in the private or non-government sector. This is a full scholarship which includes tuition fees and maintenance allowance for up to 2 years of studies for a Master's degree. The bond period for the Master's Scholarship is 3 years.

PSC does not provide study loans. The local universities, however, administer study loans to their students. You can also approach local banks for loans for overseas studies.

Both the PSC Scholarship and the PSC Scholarship (Sustainability) bear no restrictions in terms of course of studies, and recipients can be deployed to different Ministries and government agencies.

Recipients on the PSC Sustainability Scholarships (either the PSC Scholarship (Sustainability) or PSC Master's Scholarship (Sustainability) would however, have more targeted development in sustainability and circularity (S&C) domains. Following which, their deployments would be more targeted in these areas. For instance, a first posting for a PSC Scholarship (Sustainability) holder could be in the area of carbon policies at Ministry of Trade and Industry while a first posting for a PSC Scholarship holder could be in the area of trade policy with the same Ministry.

For the PSC Scholarship (Engineering), it differs from the PSC Scholarship and PSC Scholarship (Sustainability) in that it is targeted at students who are keen to develop deep expertise in Science and Technology. Recipients are expected to study in a STEM discipline, e.g. engineering, computer science, IT. They are also matched with an engineering agency at the start of their scholarship journey so that they can be mentored closely to become leaders in the respective technical domains.