---
title: "How important is education for an Employment Pass, PR or citizenship in Singapore?"
topic: "Singapore Universities & Education FAQ"
resource: "https://www.eh-immigration.com/faq/universities/how-important-is-education-for-ep-pr-citizenship"
last_updated: "2026-09-14"
---

# How important is education for an Employment Pass, PR or citizenship in Singapore?

Last updated: 2026-09-14

Education carries weight at every stage. Under the Employment Pass points system, COMPASS awards up to 20 points for qualifications from eligible top-tier institutions (including the QS top 100 and Singapore's Autonomous Universities) and 10 for other degree-equivalent qualifications; applications need 40 points on the foundational criteria to pass.

## And for PR and citizenship

There is no points test for PR, but the Government's own data shows how educated the successful cohort is: in Population in Brief 2025 (Table 17), 85.5% of new permanent residents and 81.1% of new citizens aged 20 and over held post-secondary qualifications in 2024. See [MOM's COMPASS criteria](https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/employment-pass/eligibility), [Population in Brief 2025](https://www.population.gov.sg/files/Population_in_Brief_2025.pdf) and our [full analysis](https://www.eh-immigration.com/articles/how-important-is-your-level-of-education-when-applying-for-singapore-residency-pr-and-citizenship).

Canonical page: https://www.eh-immigration.com/faq/universities/how-important-is-education-for-ep-pr-citizenship