diff --git a/CHANGELOG.txt b/CHANGELOG.txt
index b023e586d8..b63a2616f8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.txt
+++ b/CHANGELOG.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+1.12 (xx.xx.xxxx) - IN DEVELOPMENT
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+
 1.11 (xx.xx.xxxx) - IN DEVELOPMENT
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/docs/releases/1.12.rst b/docs/releases/1.12.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9d423bdfa4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/releases/1.12.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+===========================================
+Wagtail 1.12 release notes - IN DEVELOPMENT
+===========================================
+
+.. contents::
+    :local:
+    :depth: 1
+
+
+What's new
+==========
+
+Other features
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Bug fixes
+~~~~~~~~~
+
+
+Upgrade considerations
+======================
diff --git a/docs/releases/index.rst b/docs/releases/index.rst
index 7caab5a1fc..ba3765ff5c 100644
--- a/docs/releases/index.rst
+++ b/docs/releases/index.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Release notes
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 1
 
+   1.12
    1.11
    1.10.1
    1.10
diff --git a/wagtail/__init__.py b/wagtail/__init__.py
index f4bb8391dc..97c13186f5 100644
--- a/wagtail/__init__.py
+++ b/wagtail/__init__.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from wagtail.utils.version import get_semver_version, get_version
 
 # major.minor.patch.release.number
 # release must be one of alpha, beta, rc, or final
-VERSION = (1, 11, 0, 'rc', 1)
+VERSION = (1, 12, 0, 'alpha', 0)
 
 __version__ = get_version(VERSION)
 
diff --git a/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt b/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt
index 9ba70b13e9..f911198a5c 100644
--- a/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt
+++ b/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 Django>=1.11,<1.12
-wagtail==1.11rc1
+wagtail==1.12a0