diff --git a/wagtail/__init__.py b/wagtail/__init__.py
index 48cc2b6dfca..564eb849a83 100644
--- a/wagtail/__init__.py
+++ b/wagtail/__init__.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 # major.minor.patch.release.number
 # release must be one of alpha, beta, rc, or final
-VERSION = (6, 0, 0, "alpha", 0)
+VERSION = (6, 0, 0, "rc", 1)
 
 __version__ = get_version(VERSION)
 
diff --git a/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt b/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt
index 46aaa2a55d2..5d58638d8a0 100644
--- a/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt
+++ b/wagtail/project_template/requirements.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 Django>=4.2,<5.1
-wagtail==6.0a0
+wagtail==6.0rc1