Scholarships 2027 for SPM 2026 Leavers: Deadlines, Requirements and Which Accept IGCSE

None of the scholarship windows for SPM 2026 leavers had been announced by 7 October 2026, so last year is the best guide. SPM 2025 results came out on 31 March 2026, and most of the big awards for school leavers opened that week: PETRONAS closed on 10 April and JPA, the last of them, on 16 April.^[1]

That leaves about two weeks between results and the last deadline. This guide takes each main award for school leavers in Malaysia in turn: who it is for, the minimum grades, what it pays for, what you owe in return and last year's window, labelled as last year's, so you can prepare now and spot the 2027 dates when they appear. It also answers a question the usual scholarship lists leave out: which awards accept IGCSE results.

When do scholarship applications open for SPM 2026 leavers?

The 2027 dates are not out yet. Each provider sets its own window around SPM results day, and the SPM 2026 results date has not been announced either; in 2026 KPM gave three weeks' notice, on 9 March. Shell says its applications open each year on the day SPM results are released, and in 2026 Shell, PETRONAS and MARA all opened on 31 March.

Here is how the 2026 round ran, earliest opening first. All times are Malaysia time.

Every dated window above closed by 16 April 2026, within 16 days of results day. If 2027 follows the same pattern, you will have about a fortnight to submit everything, so the preparation in the later sections matters more than the exact dates.

Which scholarships accept IGCSE results?

Two of the awards in this guide accept IGCSE results from school leavers, and both put it in writing. Yayasan Khazanah asks for "a minimum of 8As (combination of A and A+) in the recent SPM examination or at least 8As in the recent IGCSE", and Shell for 8As in SPM or "Excellent O-level grades at IGCSE (A*/A)". JPA, PETRONAS, Bank Negara's pre-university award, MARA's YTP and Yayasan TNB's PRIME all set their grade rules in SPM terms. The sources are in each award's section below.

For IGCSE families, four points follow from those rules.

• Khazanah accepts mock or trial results only for an IGCSE you have not sat yet, so a student taking IGCSE in May or June 2027 can apply in the March or April window with 8As in the latest mock or trial.
• Khazanah's rule on A or A+ in BM, English, Sejarah and Maths applies only to SPM candidates. With IGCSE, any 8As count.
• JPA's rules include private candidates. An IGCSE student who also sits SPM for the first time meets that rule, but the grades must come from JPA's named SPM subjects, which for PPN include Sejarah and Pendidikan Islam or Moral.
• Some colleges run their own scholarships on trial results. Sunway College's Special Scholarship 2027 invites SPM candidates sitting in December 2026 and IGCSE candidates sitting in November 2026 or June 2027 to apply with their trial results and co-curricular records.^[2]

After A Level, IB or another pre-university course, more awards open to IGCSE students. The last section covers them.

The main scholarships for SPM leavers, award by award

These are the 2026 rules as each provider published them. They can change from year to year, so read the 2027 guideline before you apply. What each award pays for, and what it asks in return, is compared in the next section.

JPA: PPN, LSPM and JKPJ

The Public Service Department (JPA) offered 640 places to SPM leavers in 2026: 30 for the National Sponsorship Programme (PPN), 200 for the Program Khas Lepasan SPM Dalam Negara (LSPM), 140 for the Japan, Korea, France and Germany programme (JKPJ) and 270 for the Program Khas JPA-MARA.^[3] In 2026 the three main programmes took applications from 3 April (Friday) at 3:00 pm to 16 April (Thursday) at 5:00 pm on JPA's sponsorship portal.^[4]

The full conditions are on JPA's programme pages.^[5] The academic-merit model replaced JPA's older, service-based convertible loan in June 2025: the better your final CGPA, the less you pay back.^[6] Shortlisted applicants then had four days for confirming a Student Assessment Centre (SAC) slot, and JPA said late confirmations would not be accepted.^[7]

PETRONAS Powering Knowledge Education Sponsorship

PETRONAS sponsors SPM leavers from foundation or pre-university study through to a degree, at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, other Malaysian universities or overseas.^[8] Its 2026 window ran from 31 March (Tuesday), 12 noon, to 10 April (Friday), 5:00 pm, on its Online Application System (OAS).

Two rules in the 2026 guideline are easy to miss. Your first choice of programme is final once you submit, and every later stage is assessed on it. And because only A and A+ count, an A- does not help you reach eight. The guideline also states that no processing fee is required.^[9]

Bank Negara Malaysia: Kijang Scholarship

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) runs two awards. The Kijang Pre-University Scholarship is for SPM leavers; the Kijang Undergraduate Scholarship comes later and is in the last section.^[10]

BNM's page no longer shows the 2026 pre-university dates. A notice in The Star on 29 March 2026 said applications were open and gave 12 April as the deadline.^[11]

Yayasan Khazanah: Khazanah Global and Khazanah Watan

Yayasan Khazanah's pre-university awards are the clearest route for IGCSE students, because the rules name IGCSE alongside SPM.^[12]

Yayasan Khazanah describes the window for this level as March or April each year, and EduAdvisor's 2026 list gave 13 April as the closing date for both programmes.^[13] For its 2024 selection, Yayasan Khazanah described five assessment stages for Khazanah Global.^[14]

MARA: Young Talent Development Programme (YTP)

MARA's YTP funds Bumiputera SPM leavers through pre-university study and on to a first degree, in Malaysia or abroad. It sits under MARA's education financing, and you apply through its education loan portal.^[15]

MARA's page does not list the 2026 dates. StudyMalaysia's listing gave 31 March, 12 noon, to 13 April 2026, 12 noon.^[16]

Shell Malaysia Scholarship

Shell's award is the other big scholarship that takes IGCSE results, and its 2026 window ran from 31 March to 14 April.^[17]

Other awards: Yayasan TNB, Yayasan TM and state foundations

Yayasan TNB (YTN) and Yayasan TM (YTM) both sponsor SPM leavers from pre-university to degree, and both publish enough of their rules to summarise.^[18]

If your state has a foundation (yayasan negeri), check its website in results week too, since each sets its own rules and dates. Maybank's scholarship often appears on SPM lists, but it funds undergraduates only; it is in the last section.

What each scholarship covers, and the bond you sign

The minimum grades decide whether you can apply. The obligations can tie you to an employer for years after you graduate, so compare them before you accept an offer.

"Not stated" only means the provider's public pages do not mention an obligation, so ask for the full agreement before you sign and read the clauses on minimum grades, changing course and withdrawing. You can apply for several awards at once but hold only one: JPA and MARA rule out a second sponsorship for the same level of study, Shell takes only applicants who hold no other scholarship or loan, and Yayasan TM allows one scholarship per student.

How scholarship selection works: tests, assessment centres and interviews

Most providers narrow the field in stages after applications close.

1. 1 Apply on the provider's own portal
2. 2 Online tests or a recorded interview
3. 3 Assessment centre or face-to-face assessment
4. 4 Panel interview
5. 5 Offer and your reply

BNM says its assessment centre looks at suitability, tenacity, interpersonal and communication skills, commitment, teamwork and aptitude, and PETRONAS's face-to-face stage observes your leadership and how you work in a team. The section on how to stand out, further down, covers how to prepare.

Documents to prepare before SPM 2026 results

PETRONAS's 2026 guideline gives the most detailed list, and the same papers cover most other applications. Certified copies and your parents' income documents take time, so start in December.

• Your SPM results slip and PAJSK report. PETRONAS took scanned copies and checked both with KPM.
• Co-curricular certificates from Form 4 and Form 5 that match the achievements you list. PETRONAS asked for them only from applicants without an official PAJSK result, and ignored unrelated or older certificates.
• Certified true copies of your MyKad and your parents' MyKads. A Commissioner for Oaths, a Justice of the Peace, a lawyer or a government school head teacher is among those who can certify them.
• Each parent's latest payslip certified by the employer, or Form B or BE with LHDN's acknowledgement receipt, or a statutory declaration for a parent who is self-employed earning up to RM25,000 a year or not working.
• Your IGCSE results if you are applying to Khazanah or Shell with IGCSE, or your latest mock or trial results for Khazanah if you sit IGCSE later.
• One personal email address, used from start to finish in each application. PETRONAS warned that using different addresses leaves an application incomplete.

BNM does not ask for documents when you apply, but shortlisted candidates bring original certificates and transcripts to the interview.

Scholarship timeline for SPM 2026 candidates

SPM 2026 runs from the first speaking test on 26 October to the last written paper on 17 December 2026, and our SPM 2026 timetable lists every paper.^[19] After that, the 2026 dates are the best guide.

UPU applications for SPM leavers opened on 29 January 2026, two months before results, and were extended to 12 April once the results date was known.^[20] Apply to UPU even if you are aiming for a scholarship, so that a public university place is there if no award comes through. Until the exam ends the grades matter most, and our SPM 2026 revision plan covers the final weeks.

How to stand out: essays, interviews and co-curricular records

Build your co-curricular record from evidence. For each activity in your PAJSK report and certificates, note your role, the highest level reached (school, district, state or national) and what you did yourself. One committee role in which you ran something for 200 students says more than a long list of memberships.

Choose a course you can defend, one that fits both your subjects and the sponsor. PETRONAS's engineering route needs Physics, Chemistry and Maths among your As, and Bank Negara funds only its listed fields. In written answers, describe one or two things you did, with numbers and outcomes; a line such as "I am a hardworking leader" gives the panel nothing to check.

Practise group discussion with three or four friends: take a current topic, talk for 15 minutes, build on each other's points, bring the quiet ones in and steer towards a conclusion. For interviews, know why you want this sponsor (Bank Negara is Malaysia's central bank; PETRONAS and Shell are energy companies), and practise two-minute answers to your phone camera before a recorded interview.

How to spot a fake scholarship offer

Genuine sponsors take applications only through their own portals and contact you through them or from their own email domains. Treat any message that offers a scholarship you never applied for, or asks for money to secure one, as a scam.

• No provider in this guide lists an application fee, and PETRONAS says outright that none is required. A "processing", "registration" or "guarantee" fee is a warning sign.
• Apply only at the provider's own site, listed below, and read the link before you type anything into a form.
• Nobody can buy you a place. Selection runs through tests and interviews, so an agent who promises an award for a payment cannot deliver it.
• Never share online banking passwords or TAC numbers, and check any doubtful message through the contact on the provider's official site.
• If you have already paid or shared bank details, call your bank or the National Scam Response Centre on 997 at once, then make a police report.^[21]

Missed out after SPM? Scholarships after pre-university

A missed scholarship at SPM level is not your last chance. Several large awards take students as they finish STPM, Matriculation, foundation, A Level or IB, and Bank Negara's counts "SPM or other recognised secondary examinations" for its credit rule, which helps IGCSE students.

Maybank funds undergraduates only, which is why it belongs in this table rather than the SPM one.^[22] A strong pre-university result gives you a second round of applications about two years after SPM.

Frequently asked questions

When do scholarship applications open for SPM 2026 leavers?

No provider had announced its 2027 dates by 7 October 2026. In 2026, Shell, PETRONAS and MARA opened on SPM results day, 31 March, and JPA on 3 April. PETRONAS closed on 10 April and JPA on 16 April 2026, so expect a window of about two weeks after results.

Which scholarships accept IGCSE results in Malaysia?

Among the main awards for school leavers, Yayasan Khazanah (Khazanah Global and Khazanah Watan) accepts 8As in the latest IGCSE, or 8As in mock or trial exams for an upcoming IGCSE, and Shell accepts excellent IGCSE O-level grades (A* or A). JPA, PETRONAS, Bank Negara's pre-university award, MARA's YTP and Yayasan TNB's PRIME ask for SPM results.

What SPM results do I need for a JPA scholarship?

For PPN, 9A+ in named subjects for engineering, science and technology, or 8A+ in named subjects for other fields, with at least A- in every other subject. LSPM needs 9A+ in any subjects. You must be sitting SPM for the first time and be under 19 on 31 December of the exam year, or under 20 if you did the Remove class.

Is the JPA scholarship a loan?

Yes. JPA sponsorships are convertible loans. Since 1 June 2025 they have followed an academic-merit model (PBUA), and every 2026 award for SPM leavers was made under it. Outside medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, you repay 5% to 20% of the amount if you graduate with a CGPA of 3.00 or above, depending on your CGPA and whether you needed an extension, and all of it below 3.00. If you are appointed to the civil service in a post that matches your qualification, the remaining balance is waived.

What do I need for the PETRONAS scholarship for SPM leavers?

In 2026 PETRONAS took SPM 2025 candidates aged 16 to 19 with strong leadership and co-curricular records. Only A and A+ count: 8 of them with CEFR B1 for local programmes, or 4 A+ and 4 A with CEFR C1 for overseas programmes, including the subjects your field needs.

Does the Bank Negara scholarship have a bond?

Yes. After your degree you serve Bank Negara Malaysia for two years for every year of study, so a three-year degree means six years of service.

When will SPM 2026 results be released?

The date has not been announced. SPM 2025 results came out on 31 March 2026 at 10:00 am, and KPM announced that date on 9 March 2026.

Can I apply for more than one scholarship?

Yes, you can apply for several, but you can hold only one. JPA and MARA do not allow a second sponsorship for the same level of study, Shell accepts only applicants who hold no other scholarship or loan, and Yayasan TM allows one scholarship per student. No provider in this guide lists an application fee.