Sport Singapore Unveils Inaugural Batch of 12 spexEducation Undergraduate Scholars

• Inaugural batch of 12 athletes was awarded the new spexEducation Undergraduate Scholarship rolled out to support the academic aspirations of high performance athletes.

• Singapore Sports School and six Autonomous Universities (AUs) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enhance the AUs’ athlete-friendly practices and strengthen support for carded student-athletes to fulfil their sporting potential alongside pursuing academic excellence.

• 33 new athletes were also inducted into the 2025 cohort of spexScholarship and spexPotential programmes.

• Better integrated support for athletes to enhance their employability and make sport a viable career pathway for Singaporeans.

Singapore, 15 April 2025 – The inaugural batch of 12 athletes was awarded the Sport Excellence Education (spexEducation) Undergraduate Scholarship, a new programme under the Sport Excellence (spex) framework that provides financial support for active athletes who are keen to pursue undergraduate studies. Among the 12 spexEducation undergraduate scholars, nine athletes are on the dual career track and three athletes are on the new career track. In addition, the Sport Excellence Scholarship (spexScholarship) programme added seven athletes across six sports, while the Sport Excellence Potential (spexPotential) programme added 26 athletes across 15 sports.

More than 300 guests were present this evening at the inaugural Singapore Sport Excellence Athletes (spexAthletes) Investiture held at Singapore Sports School, including spexScholars, spexPotential athletes, spexEducation Undergraduate Scholars, their family members, NSA representatives, and partners. The event was also attended by Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth & Second Minister for Law.

First batch of 12 Athletes to be supported through spexEducation Undergraduate Scholarship

First announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in 2024, the spexEducation Undergraduate Scholarship was introduced to enhance the employability of Team Singapore athletes. There are two tracks under the programme – the Dual Career track and the New Career track.

The inaugural spexEducation Undergraduate Scholarship was awarded to 12 athletes, with nine recipients on the dual career track and three on the new career track.

Among the Dual Career track recipients are Zeanne Law (Wushu) and Sheik Farhan (Pencak Silat), who will continue their competitive sporting careers while pursuing their studies. The New Career track recipients include former national shuttler Jessica Tan, who recently announced her retirement from her sport to pursue her unfinished studies in sport management, as well as swimmer Teong Tzen Wei, who has brought pride to Singapore through his sporting achievements and remains highly committed to pursuing further breakthroughs in his sport.

These athletes have consistently demonstrated excellence in their respective sports at major competitions. The scholarships allow for the athletes to realise their diverse aspirations, where they can pursue both their sporting and academic goals with peace of mind in their chosen fields of study – ranging from Sport Science and Sport Management, to Marketing and Accountancy.

Mr Kon Yin Tong, Chairman of the spexScholarship and spexEducation Undergraduate Scholarship Selection Committees and Chairman of SportSG, said, "The expansion of the spex framework demonstrates our commitment to providing Team Singapore athletes the most conducive environment to train, compete and excel in their sport. Congratulations to our first batch of spexEducation Undergraduate Scholars – they are outstanding athletes who have consistently demonstrated sporting excellence. Through this scholarship, they can confidently pursue both their sporting ambitions and academic studies. By providing our athletes a holistic and integrated support ecosystem, we hope that this can encourage more athletes to confidently chase their sporting dreams, and be assured that their future is secure. There are diverse paths to success, and we want to inculcate the mindset that sport can be a viable career pathway too, so that we can continue to develop a pipeline of strong sporting talent in the generations to come.”

Refer to Annex A ↗ (opens in new tab) for the full list of spexEducation Undergraduate Scholars.

Memorandum of Understanding between Singapore Sports School and Autonomous Universities

Under the spexEducation Scheme, SportSG partners Singapore Sports School (SSP) and the six autonomous universities (AUs) to provide systematic and comprehensive support for student-athletes to cope effectively with the dual demands of high performance sport and their university education. 

To further strengthen these support structures for carded-student athletes, SSP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the ​​six AUs today – National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore Management University, Singapore University of Social Sciences and Singapore University of Technology and Design. This partnership enhances the athlete-friendly environment in the AUs, empowering our high performance student-athletes to excel locally both in their sporting and academic pursuits.

Under this MOU, student-athletes can look forward to benefitting from a range of athlete-friendly practices including aptitude-based admissions, priority selection of course modules or support to swap class groups to accommodate their sport training and competitions. Where appropriate, student-athletes will have the flexibility in planning their curriculum load to complete their degree programme and assessment arrangements such as deferment of exams or provision of alternative assessment. 

In addition, student-athletes who are recipients of the spexScholarship, spexPotential and spexEducation Undergraduate Scholarship can look forward to dedicated support through structured meetings with their universities and SSP to monitor and support their development. University mentors will also facilitate academic, social-emotional and other forms of support to enhance the well-being of the student-athletes. 

Mr Ong Kim Soon, Principal, Singapore Sports School, said, “The formalisation of athlete-friendly practices by our autonomous universities (AUs) demonstrates the joint commitment to our shared desire to nurture the human potential, foster unity and uplift the collective spirit of the nation through high performance sport. As the education arm of Singapore’s High Performance Sport system, Sports School is pleased to work with our AUs to establish a robust athlete-friendly environment in every AU that empowers our high performance student-athletes to excel in their sport and undergraduate academic pursuits locally. We look forward to seeing more of our national carded student-athletes thrive in our AUs and become champions in sport, for sport and in life, and in so doing, shape the character and spirit of our nation.”

7 New Athletes Join the 2025 Cohort of spexScholars

Seven new athletes across six sports were welcomed into the spexScholarship programme this year – the pinnacle of support for high performance sport in Singapore, providing enhanced financial and programmatic support to athletes with the potential to excel at Asian and World levels.

Among them include returning spexScholars Gemma Rose Foo and Madeleine Ong, as well as bowler Nu’man Syahmi bin Yusri and jiu-jitsu athlete Paul Lim from the inaugural cohort of spexPotential athletes last year. Nu’man and Paul have demonstrated progress since joining the spexPotential programme, and their performance profile indicates that they have the potential to excel at the regional and international level.

With the addition of seven new athletes, the total number of spexScholars stands at 94 athletes across 22 sports.

The comprehensive suite of support under the spexScholarship includes a monthly stipend, support for local and overseas training and competitions; sports equipment; access to sport science in areas such as such as sport biomechanics, physiology, physiotherapy, nutrition and strength and conditioning; a curated coaching programme which helps athletes with diet, sleep, recovery and preparation, and other aspects required to get them competing at peak condition.

From FY25, spexScholars also receive increased stipends and monthly top-ups to their CPF accounts as announced in August 2024. These enhancements to the spexScholarship are part of the government’s efforts to strengthen the athletes’ financial stability and encourage athletes to remain competitive for a longer period of time.

Over the years, spexScholarship has nurtured many sporting talents and enabled them to achieve breakthrough success at Asian and World-level sporting events.

a)    At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, 20 out of 23 (87%) of the contingent were spexScholars, an increase from 57% at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The spexScholars delivered inspiring performances at the Games, including swimmer Gan Ching Hwee, who achieved two national records and two personal bests at her debut; Loh Kean Yew, who became the first Singaporean male shuttler to progress to the quarter finals in badminton since the 2004 Olympic Games; and debutant Teh Xiu Hong who achieved Singapore’s best ever Olympic result in shooting.

b)    At the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, eight out of ten (80%) of the contingent were spexScholars, an increase from 50% from Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Apart from medal winners Yip Pin Xiu, who defended her double gold in the S2 Women’s 50m and 100m backstroke, and debutant Jeralyn Tan who won Singapore’s first Paralympic medal in boccia, Chan Han Siong, who was Singapore’s first para shooter to qualify for Paralympics, also put up a good debut performance, achieving 10^th position and was just one point off making the Finals.

Refer to Annex B ↗ (opens in new tab) for the full list of spexScholars.  

26 New Athletes Inducted into spexPotential Programme

26 new athletes across 15 sports were inducted into the spexPotential programme this year. Among the 26 new inductees include Team Singapore Ice Skater Ryo Ong, who competed at the recent 2025 Asian Winter Games in individual and team events, and reached the Finals of the Mixed Relay team event. Ryo also achieved Singapore’s best placing at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games, securing a 13th place overall in the men’s 1500m short track speed skating event.

The youngest spexPotential athlete in this year’s cohort is diver Ainslee Kwang Jia Ern, who will turn 14 this July. Despite her young age, Ainslee clinched bronze in the Women’s Open Synchronized Platform event (with Megan Yow, a 2024 spexPotential inductee), and finished 5th in the Individual Women’s Open Platform at the 11th Asian Diving Championships. Her score of 249.35 in the individual event would have secured her a silver medal at the 2023 SEA Games — a testament to her rising potential on the regional stage.

With the addition of 26 new athletes, the total number of spexPotential athletes stands at 71 athletes across 22 sports.

Launched in 2024, spexPotential was designed to strengthen the youth-to-senior athlete transition and nurture promising athletes early for sustained sporting success. It bridges the gap in the athletes’ journey towards spexScholarship by preparing them for sporting excellence at Southeast Asian Games level, so that more can aspire to higher levels of sport excellence beyond that – at Asian and World levels.

Similar to spexScholarship, spexPotential athletes also receive financial and programmatic support, which includes a monthly stipend, support for local and overseas training and competitions, and sport science and medicine support.

Refer to Annex C ↗ (opens in new tab) for the full list of spexPotential athletes. 

Enabling Athletes to Realise their Full Potential

 These announcements come alongside other recent developments to strengthen holistic support for athletes, including increased stipends and monthly top-ups to CPF accounts from FY2025 for spexScholars.

On 1 April 2025, the Singapore Sport Institute (SSI) and National Youth Sports Institute (NYSI) have been integrated into a single entity – the new High Performance Sport Institute (HPSI) – to provide a more seamless youth-to-senior support framework for athletes. At a later date, the HPSI and SSP will come together. This will enable the establishment of a core of sport specialists in sport science, athlete life and sport management in Singapore’s high performance sport system, deepen the specialists’ capacities and capabilities and provide our athletes with the assurance of a good education support that is wrapped around their sports training to give Team Singapore the competitive edge.

As part of the Kallang Alive Masterplan, the Home of Team Singapore will also be developed at the Kallang Alive precinct, bringing together national training centres for several key sports, and feature expanded sport science and sport medicine facilities, as well as co-working spaces for coaches, sport scientists and sport administrators, and the Singapore Sports School. This move will bring the high performance sport ecosystem closer together to power the nation’s next bound of sporting excellence.

Mr Alan Goh, Chief Executive Officer of SportSG, said, “Athletes dedicate years of hard work, make personal sacrifices and display unwavering resilience in pursuit of sporting excellence. We hope to help them realise their sporting aspirations by providing them with what they need to thrive, which includes a high-quality Daily Training Environment (DTE), education and post-athlete career support. Strengthening the integration of Singapore’s high performance sport system is a key step towards enhancing our end-to-end athlete development, offering a more seamless pathway for athletes during their youth-to-senior transition and across their life stages. This integration reinforces our commitment to making sport a viable career, and we hope it encourages more TeamSG athletes to pursue high performance sport for a longer period.” 

Beyond spexScholarship, spexPotential, and spexEducation, SportSG also provides athletes with a comprehensive suite of support to facilitate their sporting journey through various spex initiatives such as spexBusiness, spexGLOW (Grant for Loss of Wages) and spexTAG (Training Assistant Grant).

More information on Singapore’s High Performance Sport system can be found in the High Performance Sport handbook available on SportSync website ↗ (opens in new tab) and more information on the spexEducation Undergraduate Scholarship can be found on Singapore Sports School website ↗ (opens in new tab).