The school, formerly known as Guangdong University for Nationalities, was founded in 1957 and renamed Guangdong Vocational and Technical Teachers College in 1998. In 2002, it was renamed Guangdong Technical Teachers College, and the former Guangdong Mechanical School was merged into the school. In 2005, the former Guangdong Economic Management Cadre College and Guangdong Finance and Trade Management Cadre College were merged into the school; 20 18 was renamed Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University. In June 2020, Heyuan Campus of Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University officially opened.
As of April 2023, the school has five campuses, including East Campus, West Campus, North Campus, Baiyun Campus and Heyuan Campus, covering an area of more than 2,500 mu, with a school building area of more than 790,000 square meters, a total teaching and administrative room area of more than 440,000 square meters, a total collection of more than 2.3 million volumes and 5,726 kinds of Chinese and foreign paper periodicals with a total value of 366 million yuan. There are 24 secondary teaching units and 74 undergraduate majors; There are more than 36,000 full-time undergraduates and 556 teachers with senior titles.