Over 70% have not used their $500 SkillsFuture top-up expiring in 2025

Most Singaporeans – about 70 percent of those eligible – have yet to tap the one-off $500 SkillsFuture Credit top-up that will expire on Dec 31, 2025, with just over six months to go.

- Gabrielle Chan

Since the top-up was introduced in October 2020, about 721,000 Singaporeans, or 28 percent of those eligible, have used it, said SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) in response to queries from The Straits Times.

The usage rate has gone up by 2 percentage points since December 2024, according to the last check by ST, amounting to about 30,000 additional users.

The one-off SkillsFuture Credit top-up will expire at the end of the year and will not be extended, said SSG, adding that to use this top-up, courses must start and claims be submitted by Dec 31, 2025.

The one-time credit was issued to all Singaporeans aged 25 and above in 2020 to support their training and development during the pandemic.

It is separate from the base $500 in SkillsFuture credits that Singaporeans receive when they turn 25.

Another $500 credit was given to those aged 40 to 60 as at Dec 31, 2020, as part of mid-career support. Neither of these credits will expire.

Similarly, on May 1, 2024, Singaporeans aged 40 and above were given an additional $4,000 credit.