SkillsFuture Credit 2026: Check Your Balance & Best Ways to Use It

The short version: if you're a Singapore Citizen aged 25+, you have a permanent $500 base SkillsFuture Credit. At 40+, you also get a $4,000 Mid-Career top-up — so up to $4,500, none of it expiring. From 40, taking full-time long-form courses can also unlock a training allowance of 50% of your income (capped $3,000/month, up to 24 months). Check your balance on MySkillsFuture with Singpass. Below: what it covers and how to spend it well.

Quick answer: your 2026 balance

Singapore Citizens get a permanent $500 base credit at 25, plus a permanent $4,000 Mid-Career top-up at 40 — up to $4,500 total. The 2020 one-off top-ups no longer expire (merged into the mid-career tier). From 40, full-time long-form study can also draw a Mid-Career Training Allowance: 50% of average income, capped $3,000/month, up to 24 months lifetime. Check the exact figure on MySkillsFuture.

How much you actually have

So a Singaporean aged 40 or above has up to $4,500 in total credit. The two 2020 one-off top-ups (the general $500 and the $500 mid-career top-up) that were set to expire at end-2025 have had that expiry lifted and folded into the mid-career tier.

The Mid-Career Training Allowance (the underused part)

Credit pays course fees — but the bigger lever for those 40 and above is the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Training Allowance under the Level-Up Programme, which helps replace income while you study full-time:

• Amount: 50% of your average monthly income over the latest 12 months
• Cap: $3,000 per month
• Duration: up to 24 months over your lifetime (can span more than one period of study)
• Eligible courses: selected full-time programmes — SkillsFuture Career Transition Programmes (SCTP) and full-qualification courses up to undergraduate degree level at the Institutes of Higher Learning

This is what makes a genuine mid-career pivot financially feasible — it's not just a fee subsidy, it's partial income replacement while you reskill.

How to check your balance

1. Go to MySkillsFuture (myskillsfuture.gov.sg).
2. Log in with Singpass.
3. Your balance — base tier and Mid-Career tier — appears in your account/profile.
4. Browse eligible courses on the same portal and apply your credit at checkout.

How to spend it well (not just spend it)

Because the credit no longer expires, there's no rush — which means the real risk is wasting it on a course that doesn't move your career. A few principles:

• Target employability, not novelty. The $4,000 mid-career tier is deliberately reserved for courses with strong job outcomes. Use it on a qualification or pathway, not a one-off hobby class.
• Stack toward a qualification. Modules that stack into a full qualification compound in value.
• Pair credit + allowance for a real pivot. If you're 40+ and serious about switching fields, combine the $4,000 credit with the training allowance and a full-time programme.
• Match it to demand. Check which skills your target sector actually hires for before enrolling.

If you're between jobs

SkillsFuture is most powerful exactly when you're reskilling between roles. If you've been retrenched or are job-hunting, your credit can fund a career-transition course, and you may also qualify for income support — see our guide to retrenchment rights and benefits.

The bottom line

You almost certainly have $500 (and $4,500 if you're 40+) in non-expiring SkillsFuture Credit sitting unused. Check it on MySkillsFuture, and if you're 40+ and contemplating a real career change, look at the Level-Up training allowance — 50% income replacement (capped $3,000/month) turns "I can't afford to retrain" into a plan.

General information for Singapore Citizens, current as of 2026. Amounts and scheme rules are set by SkillsFuture Singapore / MOE — verify on skillsfuture.gov.sg before enrolling.