
BrightSparks Survey 2020 was conducted
for its 13th consecutive year, polling GCE ‘A’ Level and International
Baccalaureate (IB) students and graduates, polytechnic students, and university
undergraduates to examine their higher education, scholarships, and career
preferences.
A total of 4,009 participated in the
survey this year, 794 more than the 3,215 respondents last year. We have
gathered some findings particularly pertinent for students below:
NUS
tops scholarship provider rankings
NUS and NTU remained the top scholarship
providers for three years running from 2018 to 2020 for JC/IB and Polytechnic
students. This may be because their scholarships are bond-free.
Healthcare
still the most attractive sector
Same as last year, healthcare and government
service remained the most attractive sectors for respondents. Healthcare
experienced a steady interest and government service seems to continue to be
perceived as an “iron rice bowl” with little job volatility.
Graduates
expect pay of at least $3,000
Graduate pay expectations continued to
be in the $3,000 - $4,000/month range. However, same as last year, a
significant number of respondents expected pay in the $4,000 - $5,000/month
range.
BrightSparks
continues to be leading source of scholarship information and application
BrightSparks continued to be the leading
source of scholarship information for a majority of students, vastly preferred
over other sources. It also was the preferred method of scholarship
application, as it offers a one-stop application service which allows the
student to apply to many different organisations at once without having to
re-enter the same data.