We report on an interesting and efficient one-step linker assisted chemical bath deposition method to synthesise CdTe or CdTe/CdS quantum dot sensitized TiO2 photoelectrodes. The CdTe or CdTe/CdS core/shell quantum dots with different size and structure can be easily obtained by controlling the hydrothermal temperature. The QDs are covalently linked to TiO2 nanocrystallites by thioglycolic acid (TGA) bifunctional molecule which also acts as stabilizer and sulfur source in this one-step fabrication. In this sensitized electrode, CdTe has higher light absorptivity while the CdS shell plays a crucial role in the sensitive CdTe QDs protection and photo-generated charges separation. Both effects push the power conversion efficiency of the quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) up to 3.8% and 5.25% under AM 1.5 G one sun (100 mW cm−2) and 0.12 sun illumination, respectively.