Queen's Scholar (British Malaya and Singapore)

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In British Malaya, a Queen's Scholar was a holder of one of various scholarships awarded by the Government of the Straits Settlements to further their studies in the United Kingdom.

The first scholarships, originally known as the Higher Scholarships, were founded in 1885 by Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, in honour of Queen Victoria. The main objectives of introducing Higher Scholarships was to allow promising boys an opportunity to complete their studies in the United Kingdom, and to encourage a number of boys to remain in school and acquire a useful education. From the period 1885–1890, Higher Scholarships were only awarded to the top boys in the Straits Settlement. Thereafter, the Higher Scholarships were renamed the Queen's Scholarships and was opened up to all British subjects of either sex. Recipients of the Queen's Scholarships would proceed to study at either Cambridge or Oxford universities.

The Queen's Scholarships were discontinued in 1911 but restored in 1931. In 1940, the selection of Queen's Scholars was transferred to a Board of Selection appointed by the Senate of Raffles College in Singapore. The Queen's Research Fellowships were also introduced for outstanding graduates of Raffles College and King Edward VII College of Medicine^[1] (later merged to form the University of Malaya) to study postgraduate courses in selected universities in the United Kingdom. In 1959, the Queen's Scholarship was replaced by the Agong's Scholarship in Malaysia and the Singapore State Scholarship, now the President's Scholarship in Singapore.^[2]