Singapore is rolling out a major expansion of financial support for worker upskilling, offering eligible employees up to S$18,000 a year to pursue long-term education and training under an enhanced Workfare Skills Support (WSS) scheme.
The initiative, known as WSS (Level-Up), was announced as part of Budget 2025 and is aimed at helping lower-wage workers take on substantial reskilling and upskilling programmes without the pressure of lost income.
According to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the scheme will support long-form training such as Nitec courses, diplomas, undergraduate degrees, and SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme courses.
Applications will open on 9 February 2026 for training undertaken from 1 March 2026 onwards, MOM said in a joint media release with Workforce Singapore.
Under the new scheme, eligibility is extended to workers aged 30 and above who earn up to S$3,000 per month. Employees who take time off work to pursue full-time, long-form training will receive a training allowance equivalent to 50% of their average monthly income over the most recent 12-month period. The allowance will range from a minimum of S$300 per month to a maximum of S$18,000 per year.
Workers who remain employed while undertaking part-time long-form training will also be supported, with monthly allowances starting at S$300 and capped at S$3,600 per year.
MOM said the enhanced scheme is designed to support workers at different stages of their careers. Eligible individuals can receive funding for up to 24 months of long-form training before the age of 40, and an additional 24 months from age 40 onwards, allowing for multiple reskilling phases over time.
The training allowance under WSS (Level-Up) represents a significant increase compared with the existing WSS (Basic) scheme, which provides support only for short courses at S$6 per training hour, capped at S$1,080 annually.
The ministry added that the existing eligibility criteria for WSS (Basic) will continue to apply to the new Level-Up scheme. Applications will be submitted through the Training Allowance System (TAS), with further details available on the government’s Workfare portal.
The move underscores Singapore’s continued focus on strengthening workforce resilience by enabling lower-wage workers to invest in longer-term skills development and improve their access to better job opportunities in a rapidly evolving economy.