Applications open in October each year for the early cycle. The closing date for the early cycle is 31 October. Alternatively, you may apply during the normal cycle, which is upon the release of the GCE A Level results in February or March. The closing date for the normal cycle is two weeks after the release of GCE A Level results.

Visit the EDB Scholarship Website at www.sedb.com/careers where you will be directed to the Brightsparks portal to submit an online application. Alternatively, you can apply for the EDB scholarships through your JC Brightsparks portal account under EDB or FIREfly.

I wish to submit my application for the early cycle. Do I have to wait till my preliminary results are released?

You can use your preliminary results if available. Alternatively, you can submit your JC1/ IB1 results or your predicted ‘A’ Level/ IB Programme results if available.

We will consider applicants with at least 10 units. If you are in the IB Programme, we will consider applicants with at least six subjects.

Do however note that academic results are only one of many criteria that we look at. We do consider your non-academic achievements through co-curricular activities (CCAs), involvement in activities outside of school, your interests as well as the write-up which we will ask you to submit as part of your application.

A student should have excellent grades in 10 units of subjects and good grades in Knowledge and Inquiry (KI)/GP. The H3 subject is not a compulsory requirement for the EDB scholarship. We will also take a student’s CCAs and other achievements into consideration.

A student should obtain a minimum score of 38 points to be considered for the EDB scholarship. In addition, we will take a student’s CCAs and other achievements into consideration.

If you apply by 31 October, you will know if you are shortlisted for an interview by the 3rd week of November (or towards the end of the GCE A Level examinations, whichever is later). The selection process will start after the GCE A Level/ IB examinations have finished and may stretch up to the first or second week of January.

If you apply after the release of the GCE A Level/ results in March, the selection process will start in April and may extend into early June. For the male applicants, your interviews will take place during your NS block leave periods around May – July.

We encourage all students to consider the early cycle application.

There are three to four rounds in the selection process. The first is a 30-minute interview with a Scholarship Officer. The second round is a full-day assessment centre where you will do a variety of individual and team exercises. The third and fourth rounds of interviews are with the senior management of EDB.

We look for committed and dynamic people who want to play a defining role in shaping the future of Singapore. People who thrive on the challenge of moulding the next generation of companies and industries that will drive the Republic’s economic growth. People who want to create fulfilling jobs for Singaporeans and other talented people. People who want to make a difference to an entire nation with the strengths and gifts that they have. If these are goals that matter to you, then you are what we want.

We are looking for people committed to the cause of making Singapore better. If you have the passion to drive the growth sectors of Singapore’s economy, if you want to play a major role in enhancing Singapore’s competitiveness, if you dream of being a future catalyst for creating high value-adding jobs for Singaporeans, then you are what we want.

Due to the timing of the scholarship selection process and the closing dates for university applications, it is unlikely that you would have secured a place in an overseas university before applying for the scholarship. However, you should be in the process of applying for university places. For those applying in the normal cycle, you may have already secured a place with an overseas university. We will discuss these options with you during the interviews.

You are encouraged to apply in the early cycle before your enlistment. However, you can also send in your applications as soon as you have received your A-level results. However, you can only attend the interviews during your NS block-leave periods in May – July.

If you are successful in your application, an in-principal offer will be made to you. Upon accepting our offer, we will hold the scholarship for you until you have completed your NS.

No. However we recognize that there is a long time between the end of your A-Levels/ IB examinations until your enrollment at the university. Therefore, we encourage you to take other courses for personal development (e.g. language courses) which EDB may decide to sponsor.

EDB strongly supports all fields of engineering, sciences and economics.

EDB supports its scholars up to a Masters degree. This is subjected to approval and the scholar’s fulfillment of certain criteria.

We encourage double majors or a major/minor, especially when it is a combination of engineering/science with economics.

We encourage our scholars to take up French, German, Japanese. In fact, we encourage scholars to consider going to non-English speaking countries like France, Germany, Japan and China to pursue their studies.

There isn’t a list of approved universities but the general guideline is that the university must be amongst the top for the related field of study you intend to pursue.

The scholarship is a full scholarship and covers all tuition fees, living allowances, warm clothing allowances, return airfares and other miscellaneous expenses.

Upon successfully being awarded a scholarship, we will reimburse for all the above costs with proof of original receipts. We reimburse up to five university applications, in addition to SAT I and SAT II.

EDB is fully committed to the career of our officers. Scholars pursuing their undergraduate studies in the US and UK have a six year bond. Scholars pursuing their undergraduate studies in non-English speaking countries (e.g. France, Germany, Japan, China) have a five-year bond.

Our scholars are required to go for a two-week pre-departure internship with EDB before they leave for their studies. It is part of introducing the scholar to EDB. At the end of the second year of study, our scholars return for their second internship, which lasts eight weeks. Scholars may also have the opportunity to go for an internship at one of our international offices in their third year of study.

We offer a wide range of career opportunities. There is no set career path as it is dependent on a variety of factors, such as the interest, potential and performance of the officer, as well as the organisation’s requirements.

Officers who stand out in their jobs will have ample opportunity to head up one of our 19 offices around the world, allowing them to expand their frontiers across regions as well as industries. Aside from overseas assignments, officers will also find job rotation an integral part of the EDB career map. We actively encourage our staff to apply for this as it gives staff exposure to different roles and divisions, leading to a more well-rounded experience. In addition, there are plenty of options for secondments to our parent ministry, the Ministry of Trade & Industry, and to our sister FIREfly agencies such as IE Singapore, A*Star, JTC, etc.