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

Ms Valerie Lee asked 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.

I will take oral Parliamentary Question (PQ) No 78 and written PQ No 42 to 43 on today's Order Paper.

My response will also cover the matters raised in the written PQ scheduled for the earlier sitting on 4 November 2025 from Dr Charlene Chen. [Please refer to ​"Extending Expiry Date of Unused $500 SkillsFuture Credits", Official Report, 4 November 2025, Vol 96, Issue 9, Written Answers to Questions section.]

I invite Members to seek clarifications as needed.

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.

As at end-September 2025, close to 800,000 Singaporeans, or about three 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.

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).

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.

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.

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 artificial intelligence upskilling. Individuals with expiring credits can consider whether there are suitable courses or online training subscriptions that meet their learning and career needs.