Women's single sculls competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held between August 9 and 16, at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.

The "scull" portion means that the rower uses two oars, one on each side of the boat; this contrasts with sweep rowing in which each rower has one oar and rows on only one side (not feasible for singles events!).

The top three boats in each heat advance to the quarterfinals, together with the 6 fastest of the remaining scullers, while all others are relegated to the E/F semifinals.

Placing in the quarterfinal heats determined which semifinal the boat would race in.

For example, a second-place finish in an A/B semifinal would result in advancement to the A final.