The beginning of Tampines Junior College was humble. In March 1986, nine teachers met at Tampines Primary School to lay down the foundations for a junior college to be opened in April. There was barely time to plan a coherent policy, the procedure or map out the shape that the College would take before the first registration of students was carried out two weeks later. The number was small: one hundred and thirty. A humble beginning indeed.

Hence Tampines Junior College, located in the midst of Tampines New Town, commenced functioning as a centre of Pre-university education on 11 April 1986.

But as the construction of the college premises was not completed, our pioneering batch of 698 students and 33 staff were received at the building that is now Tampines Secondary School.

On 20 December 1986, the Handing Over Ceremony marked the completion of Tampines Junior College. Hence in late December, the College moved to its present home at No. 2, Avenue 9. Sitting on 6 hectares of land and costing about $18.2 million, Tampines Junior College was the 13th college to be built. The brainchild of P&T Architects, Tampines Junior College received the best-designed college building award in 1988.

It was also on 1 July 1988 that the College celebrated its Official Opening Ceremony. It was declared open by Mr Phua Bah Lee, Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Defence) and Member of Parliament for Tampines. In his speech, Mr Phua said that the College's opening marks another milestone in the development of Tampines, which has transformed from a wholly rural district into a new modern town. The College also serves as a symbol and focus of hope for the continuing education for the children of this constituency.