1939- Before the distinguished Kolej Tunku Kurshiah was born, it originally went by a different name called Maktab Perempuan Melayu. It was initially located on a piece of land located at the 2 ½ mile of Jalan Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, known today as Bukit Damansara. Establishment of Maktab Perempuan Melayu is proposed by Yang Berbahagia Dato Sheikh Ahmad Al-Haj bin Sheikh Mustapha in a State and Federal Government meetings of Negeri Sembilan on June 13, 1939. At a meeting of the Kings of the Associated States (Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang) DYMM Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Hishamuddin Alam Shah Alhaj Sir Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Sulaiman Shah Alaidin, D.M.N., D.K. (Brunei) K.C.M.G, it was suggested that an English boarding secondary school for female students, needed to be established, the likes of The Malay College in Kuala Kangsar. This proposal was supported by the DYMM Sultan Perak, Paduka Sri Sultan Sir Abdul Aziz Al Muktassim Billahi-the late Shah Nikmatullah, Ibni Almarhum Raja Muda Musa Al-Muktaram Shah, K.C.M.G., K.B.E. The establishment of Maktab Perempuan Melayu was agreed upon by all members of the meeting. The school was advocated with the purpose of providing education to female children of monarchs who would become the wives to future Kings and dignitaries of the States.
1947- Though it got the greenlight years before, Maktab Perempuan Melayu never got the chance to see the light of day due to never ending wars which postpones its opening. Finally, with a change in name, the Malay Girls College was officiated by Lady Gent, the wife of Sir Edward Gent, the Governor of Malayan Union on 15th October 1947. Open to 40 students, it was definitely the start of a glorious institution.
1962 – With a total of 150 students, the Malay Girls College migrated to a new college building on a 25 acres (100, 000 m²) site at Bukit Merbah, Jalan Tunku Kurshiah, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. Conjointly with its new scenery, it was also renamed to Kolej Tunku Kurshiah in honour of the first Raja Permaisuri Agong of Negeri Sembilan, Tunku Puan Besar Hajah Kurshiah Binti Almarhum Tunku Besar Burhanuddin. It was formalised when the college was declared open by Almarhum Tuanku Munawir Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman, the then Yang Dipertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan on 24th May 1963.
1967- Going through a series of change in the student admission policy, progression to bring the school to greater heights were being made. 6 literature classes were introduced to enhance and broaden the girls’ linguistic abilities.
1969- The school was then upgraded to a College secondary school where the school board decided to concentrate more on Form 4 to 6 students only. This ultimately made them come to a decision to halt intakes of form 1 students.
1972- Deciding to go back to old policies, the school opened their arms once again to admit Form 1 students. Offering both Science and Arts to Form 1,4,5 and 6 students. However, it was ceased ascribed to SPM graduates who got deals to matriculation at universities.
2013 – Kolej Tunku Kurshiah once again changed premises to its current home in Bandar Enstek, Nilai. The new campus has two main blocks, namely academic lower secondary and upper secondary, an administrator block which consists of an office, teacher’s chambers, libraries, laboratories, and a main hall which can accommodate 1,000 people. The main academic block can accommodate as many as 650 Ministry’s stream students and 100 International Baccalaureate students. The university-style campus also has dormitory blocks, a surau, warden’s residences, a cafeteria, multi-sports field and arenas, as well as a WiFi connection. The Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYPIB) was first introduced there and the college was also given the status as a Candidate School.
March 2016- The prestigious college continued to climb to whooping heights where it became one of the twenty schools in Malaysia to receive recognition from the IB World School. The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) was then implemented as a pre-university programme for students to have a brighter chance at entering world leading universities.
September 2016- Later in the year, Kolej Tunku Kurshiah subsequently received acknowledgement to implement the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IBMYP). As well as being among one of the premier fully residential schools, the college was recognised as a Smart School, a High Performance School, School of Global Excellence (SGE) and a Trust School. It was also selected for school programmes TIMMS and PISA and was given a new status as an Apple Distinguished School (ADS).
Currently, Form 1 students’ intake is primarily based on excellent achievements in the UPSR and display of strong characters, towering personality, stellar leadership, active involvement in co-curricular activities as well as on evidence of meaningful involvement with community work outside of school.