Government College of Teacher Education, Thiruvananthapuram has a remarkable history starting from the early years of 20th Century. This Mother Teacher Education Institution in Kerala, the second in the field of Teacher Education in Madras Province, next to Training College at Saidapet, was established in 1895 as a Normal School on the implementation of the recommendations of Hunter Commission Report of 1882 for improving the quality of education through improving Teacher Effectiveness.

The Normal School was elevated to the status of a Training College in 1911 as His Highness The Maharajas Training College and was affiliated to Madras University. The college imparted training for both Graduate and Under Graduate Teachers of erstwhile Travancore. Those who completed the teacher training course successfully were honoured with a Licentiate of Teaching (LT) degree.

The training college in Trivandrum was established at par with international standards with adequate academic and administrative facilities. The original building was constructed in the shape of English letter ‘T' with the college classes in the front row and the experimental school at the tail end. Each and every room in the building was designed keeping in view the requirements of different subjects.

The institution originally affiliated to Madras University was later transferred to Travancore University in 1937, when it was constituted by the promulgamation of Maharaja of Travancore, Sri Chithira Thirunal Balaramavarma. Subsequently there was a change in the name of the degree from L T to B T (Bachelor of Training).