IPPT Incentive Award: What Gold, Silver and a Pass Pay

How much is the IPPT incentive for each award?

Gold pays $500, Silver $300 and Pass with Incentive $200. MINDEF's answer on IPPT standards adds the badges: a Gold IPPT badge for Gold and a Silver IPPT badge for Silver. The points come from the NS Portal awards table, and every award needs at least 1 point at each of the three stations.

The amounts have stood since the Committee to Strengthen National Service raised them. MINDEF's June 2014 fact sheet lists Gold going from $400 to $500, Silver from $200 to $300 and Pass with Incentive from $100 to $200, for NSmen.

If you remember a smaller figure from an older brother, that is why. The same Training Incentive Awards page also lists a $200 marksmanship award, depending on your vocation and unit.

Do NSFs, Regulars and Home Team NSmen get the same money?

Home Team NSmen get the same $500, $300 and $200, per the MHA NS Portal, though some Home Team roles need 90 for Gold. NSFs and Regulars receive IPPT Incentive Awards with their monthly salary, MINDEF says, but neither MINDEF nor the NS Portal publishes a separate amount for them. Each group, as published:

One more difference for active servicemen. MINDEF's February 2015 release sets the pass for active servicemen at 61 points, the same total as Pass with Incentive for NSmen, while NSmen pass at 51.

We do not know the NSF and Regular amounts, because neither the NS Portal nor MINDEF publishes them. If you are an NSF or a Regular, your payslip and your unit are the places to confirm yours, not a forum post.

When is the IPPT incentive paid?

The NS Portal says you receive the award "at least 14 days after the date of your IPPT", credited automatically to the bank account number you gave MINDEF.

MINDEF also says SAF servicemen who complete their IPPT are paid via PayNow, and that PayNow for the award is currently for NSmen only. If you have not linked PayNow to your NRIC, MINDEF says the award follows the existing payment process, within 10 working days after the IPPT. The two pages give different timelines, so allow the full 14 days before you chase it.

How does the top-up work if you retake IPPT?

You may take IPPT as many times as you need inside your window, and a better award later is topped up to the higher amount. MINDEF's own example: fail on the third attempt, reach Pass with Incentive on the fourth and get $200, reach Silver on the fifth and get another $100.

Two limits sit on top of that. You are entitled to one Gold award per IPPT window, and MINDEF says NSmen are not allowed any more attempts in that window once they reach Gold.

1. 01Pass with Incentive, then Silver$200, then $100 more. $300 in all.
2. 02Pass with Incentive, then Gold$200, then $300 more. $500 in all, which is the NS Portal's own worked example.
3. 03Silver, then Gold$300, then $200 more.
4. 04Gold first time$500, and your attempts for that window end there.

Retakes are not all paid alike. The NS Portal gives half a day of service pay and half a day towards your 40-day ORNS liability for each IPPT at a Fitness Conditioning Centre, capped at the first three sessions in a window. Attempts four and up still count for the award, but not for pay.

Your IPPT incentive has not arrived. What should you check?

Check four things first: whether the NS Portal's 14 days have passed, whether every station scored at least 1 point, which IPPT window the test fell in, and your PayNow or bank details. The full list is below.

1. 01Count the daysLess than 14 days since the test is still inside the NS Portal's stated time.
2. 02Check the award, not the totalA total of 61 with 0 points at one station is not an award. The NS Portal requires at least 1 point at each station.
3. 03Check for a station exemptionMINDEF says NSmen exempted from any static station are not eligible for monetary awards, even with a pass.
4. 04Check the windowThe NS Portal says the award criteria must be met within your IPPT window. For SAF NSmen the window starts on your birthday, so a test the week after your birthday is in a new window. For Home Team NSmen the MHA NS Portal runs it from 1 April to 31 March.
5. 05Do the top-up mathsIf you already received $200 for Pass with Incentive, a later Silver pays $100, not $300.
6. 06Check PayNow and your bank detailsLink PayNow to your NRIC, or update your bank account in My Personal Information on OneNS before filing a claim. The NS Portal says changes take up to 3 working days to show.
7. 07NSFs and RegularsLook at your monthly salary statement, then ask your unit.
8. 08Still missingContact MINDEF through the NS Portal's Contact Us, or ask on ask.gov.sg. We cannot check payments for you.

What does each step up pay, from Pass with Incentive to Silver and Gold?

Pass with Incentive at 61 points pays $200. Silver at 75, for every vocation, pays $300, so the 14 points from 61 are worth another $100. Gold at 85 pays $500, so the last 10 points are worth another $200. What those points cost in reps and seconds depends on your age group.

Pick an age group below for one route to each paid award, with equal points on push-ups and sit-ups and the rest on the run, read from the NS Portal's score tables (push-ups, sit-ups, 2.4km).

Reps are the fewest that earn the points and times are at or under. They are examples, not the only way to reach each total. The picker covers all 14 age groups, and the same routes sit beside the plain Pass in the IPPT score by age table.

The slower your run, the more seconds each point costs. At 25 to 27, the table pays a point for every 10 seconds between 10:40 and 10:00, but between 11:00 and 12:00 a point takes about 20 seconds. So the same 4 points cost a full minute from 11:30 to 10:30 (36 to 40 points) and only 40 seconds from 10:40 to 10:00 (39 to 43).

If your run is slow, plan a bigger time cut for the same award, or check whether a few more push-ups or sit-ups buy those points for less. The plain Pass at 51, which pays nothing, and the 1-point floor and full marks at each station are in IPPT score by age.

How should you plan your attempts around the money?

Treat the window as a season with three paid tests, because that is how the pay rules are written. In our coaching experience, if you want more than a pass, plan it like this.

• Attempt one, early in the window. Take it after two or three weeks of easy running. It may already bank Pass with Incentive, and it tells you which band is realistic.
• Six to eight weeks of training. Aim at the next band, not the top one. Most of the gain will come from the run, so two runs a week is the minimum, with push-ups and sit-ups as short sets on other days.
• Attempt two, when a mock in test order clears the next band with a few points to spare. Mocking first means you do not spend a paid attempt on a guess.
• Attempt three, only if the gap is small. Retakes after the third still count for the award but bring no service pay.
• Gold ends the window. Once you reach Gold, MINDEF allows no more attempts that window, which costs you nothing because Gold is the top award.

The training block for Gold itself, with paces and a 12-week outline, is in how to get IPPT Gold. Commandos, Divers and Guards need 90 for the same $500, which is covered in Commando IPPT standards.

Is coaching worth it for an IPPT incentive?

Do the sum honestly. Silver to Gold is worth $200 once a window. Coaching is worth it when you have been stuck in one band for a few windows or want to stop guessing at paces. It is not worth it just to buy $200.

If you do book, a block of sessions works best timed to your window: a mock early, coached runs through the six to eight weeks, and a rehearsal before the attempt that matters. Prices are per coach and listed on our pricing page. We have no link to MINDEF and do not handle awards or claims. See IPPT and NAPFA coaching or the trainers.