Reasons for Low Take-Up Rate of $500 SkillsFuture Credit Top-Up

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Dr Charlene Chen, Tampines GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education in view that 7 in 10 Singaporeans have yet to use the $500 SkillsFuture Credit that will expire at the end of 2025, whether Ministry will consider extending the expiry date by six months, particularly for courses important for futureproofing, such as artificial intelligence, information technology, communications and healthcare.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Dr Choo Pei Ling, Chua Chu Kang GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education in view that the $500 SkillsFuture Credit are due to expire at end 2025, whether the Ministry will consider a grace period of a few more months to allow Singaporeans to utilise these credits.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song, Aljunied GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) how many Singaporeans have used their SkillsFuture Credit for the Udemy Business-Republic Polytechnic Annual Subscription Plan since its launch; and (b) whether more can be done to encourage Singaporeans to use their one-off SkillsFuture Credit top-up before it expires in 2025 for this online option, such as lowering the annual subscription price and more publicity.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Ms Valerie Lee, Pasir Ris-Changi GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether a formal study has been done to ascertain the reasons why the take-up rate for the $500 SkillsFuture Credit top-up has been low; (b) if so, what are the insights of the study; and (c) whether there are any plans to enhance the mySkillsFuture portal user interface or experience to improve take-up rate.

Combined Response

1. Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to take oral Question Number 78 and written Question Numbers 42 and 43 on today's Order Paper, please?

2. My response will also cover the matters raised in the written Parliamentary Question (PQ) scheduled for the earlier sitting on 4 November 2025 from Dr Charlene Chen. I invite Members to seek clarifications as needed.

3. The Government provided a one-off SkillsFuture Credit top-up of $500 to all eligible Singaporeans aged 25 and above in 2020. Unlike the Opening Credit of $500 given at age 25 and the Mid-Career Credit of $4,000 given at age 40 that do not expire, this top-up will expire by the end of 2025 after about five years of validity, as it was intended to nudge individuals to take timely upskilling action.

4. As at end-September 2025, close to 800,000 Singaporeans, or about 3 in 10 eligible Singaporeans, have used their SkillsFuture Credit top-up. Mid-career workers aged 40 to 60 made up close to half of this group. Top areas of training include information and communications, food services, advertising and sales and marketing. About 10,000 individuals have used their SkillsFuture Credit for online training subscriptions by Udemy, EdX and Coursera that are offered through local training providers.

5. There are various reasons why individuals choose not to use their SkillsFuture Credit top-up. Many could have attended training with employer sponsorship and did not have to tap on their SkillsFuture Credit to offset the out-of-pocket training fees. In 2024, about 241,000 individuals were sponsored by their employers to attend training supported by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG).

6. We also recognise that there is opportunity cost for working adults to pursue training, requiring them to set aside time from work, family or personal commitments. To support these individuals, we have lowered the barriers to learning by leveraging e-learning and introducing flexible training modalities, such as bite-sized modules and part-time programmes that are work-compatible.

7. SSG has also stepped up efforts to enhance the MySkillsFuture portal to make it easier for users to navigate the course catalogue, and search for courses based on their career goals, skills needs or interests. SSG will continue to enhance the MySkillsFuture user interface based on user feedback, including plans to better integrate the course search and course sign up with training providers. More details will be released later.

8. We do not intend to extend the expiry of this one-off SkillsFuture Credit top-up. SSG will continue to guide learners to access training programmes that meet their needs, including those that target in-demand and emerging skills such as in AI upskilling. Individuals with expiring credits can consider whether there are suitable courses or online training subscriptions that meet their learning and career needs.