diff --git a/CHANGELOG.txt b/CHANGELOG.txt
index 403bb2d4f1..345605ce26 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.txt
+++ b/CHANGELOG.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+1.5 (xx.xx.xxxx)
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+
 1.6 (xx.xx.xxxx)
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/docs/releases/1.7.rst b/docs/releases/1.7.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f89cd0886f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/releases/1.7.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+=========================
+Wagtail 1.7 release notes
+=========================
+
+.. contents::
+    :local:
+    :depth: 1
+
+
+What's new
+==========
+
+
+Minor features
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+
+Bug fixes
+~~~~~~~~~
+
+
+Upgrade considerations
+======================
diff --git a/docs/releases/index.rst b/docs/releases/index.rst
index 775b3e1826..8676344caa 100644
--- a/docs/releases/index.rst
+++ b/docs/releases/index.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Release notes
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 1
 
+   1.7
    1.6
    1.5.3
    1.5.2
diff --git a/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt b/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt
index 178a0132bf..b14ab3af1a 100644
--- a/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt
+++ b/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 Django>=1.10,<1.11
-wagtail==1.6rc1
+wagtail==1.7a0
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailcore/__init__.py b/wagtail/wagtailcore/__init__.py
index baf36f9c86..d9e7c17f1b 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailcore/__init__.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailcore/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-__version__ = '1.6rc1'
+__version__ = '1.7a0'
 # Required for npm package for frontend
-__semver__ = '1.6.0-rc.1'
+__semver__ = '1.7.0-alpha'
 default_app_config = 'wagtail.wagtailcore.apps.WagtailCoreAppConfig'