URA Undergraduate Scholarship (Mid-Term): 2026 Profile for Emerging Planners
Download printable cheat-sheet (CC-BY 4.0)03 Oct 2025, 12:56 Z
TL;DR
URA's mid-term scholarship back-pays your tuition, plugs you into urban planning attachments, and bonds you to shape Singapore's built environment after graduation. Keep your GPA high, prove your planning aptitude through studios or research, and articulate how you will add value to URA's multi-disciplinary teams.
Scholarship Snapshot
- Status: Applications for current undergraduates typically run January-July (last verified 2025-10-03)
- Official Listing: URA Scholarships Overview
- Who It Supports: Singapore Citizen undergraduates (local or overseas) in planning, real estate, geography, design, or allied disciplines from Year 1 onward
- What URA Looks For: Strong academic performance, passion for city-making, and a track record of leadership or community engagement
- Bond: 4 years for locally funded scholars; 6 years when overseas fees or exchanges are sponsored
Award Components
- Reimbursement of tuition and compulsory fees already incurred, with prospective coverage for remaining semesters
- Monthly allowance for the balance of study, including pre-departure grants for approved overseas exchanges
- Funding for fieldwork, studio supplies, conferences, and training relevant to urban analytics or design
- Vacation attachments and job rotations across URA divisions, plus access to MND family insights programmes
- Professional development support-GIS training, stakeholder engagement workshops, or leadership courses
Eligibility Highlights
- Current undergraduate status with at least one academic year remaining at the point of award
- Minimum B+ average (or equivalent) with strong passes in planning/urban studies core modules
- Demonstrated interest in Singapore's planning trajectory via coursework, research, internships, or community projects
- Active participation in CCAs or volunteer initiatives showing resilience, teamwork, and communication prowess
- Commitment to complete URA internship placements during vacations and serve the full bond upon graduation
Application Roadmap
- Gather transcripts, course descriptions, and studio portfolios highlighting analytical and design strengths.
- Submit URA's online application with a personal statement explaining your mid-term pivot and intended planning focus.
- Complete psychometric assessments and case exercises covering land-use trade-offs or stakeholder engagement scenarios.
- Attend interviews with URA directors to discuss career aspirations, rotation preferences, and organisational fit.
- Confirm the scholarship offer, align with your university on bond acknowledgment, and plan internship stints with URA's HR team.
Preparation Playbook
- Consolidate GIS, data analytics, and design toolkits (ArcGIS, QGIS, Rhino, Tableau) to support planning assignments.
- Track national planning conversations-Long-Term Plan Review, coastal protection, and heritage conservation-to inform interview responses.
- Seek mentorship from URA officers or alumni to understand rotation expectations and skills gaps worth closing before graduation.
- Draft a roadmap showing how you will use URA's development budget (courses, conferences, site visits) to deepen planning competencies.
Useful Resources
- mailto:ura_scholarship@ura.gov.sg
