Sports School And Autonomous Universities Partner To Support Student-Athletes

Memorandum of Understanding between Singapore Sports School and Autonomous Universities in Singapore


At the spexAthletes Investiture Ceremony on 15 April 2025, Singapore Sports School signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the six local autonomous universities (AUs) - 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 collaboration marks a shared commitment to enhancing athlete-friendly practices and support structures for carded athletes - Singapore’s national athletes who are balancing their sporting aspirations with university studies.

The signing was witnessed by Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, who graced the spexAthletes Investiture Ceremony.

For many national athletes, pursuing higher education while training and competing at the highest levels often involves navigating tight schedules, academic pressure, and international commitments. This MOU seeks to ease that journey by ensuring student-athletes can flourish both in their sport and in the classroom.

Student-athletes can now look forward to a range of flexible, athlete-centric arrangements, 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 will receive dedicated support through structured meetings with their universities and Sports School. These sessions will monitor and guide their holistic development. University mentors will also provide academic, social-emotional, and other forms of support to enhance their overall well-being.

Mr Ong Kim Soon, Principal of Singapore Sports School, shared, “The signing of the MOU with autonomous universities (AUs) is another significant milestone for Singapore sport. It signals the joint commitment by the autonomous universities to develop the full potential of our national athletes who choose to study locally. Singapore Sports School is privileged to be part of this milestone as we expand our work to be the education arm of Singapore’s High Performance Sport System. We will progressively serve the educational needs of all of our carded national athletes, beyond those who are enrolled in Sports School.”

He added, “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.”