Lancing College is a co-educational English Independent school, founded in 1848 by Rev. Nathaniel Woodard, whose aim was to provide education based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith. Typical of Public Schools, the College places emphasis on what might be described as traditional strengths - Anglican Christianity (Chapel attendance is compulsory for all pupils, regardless of their religious beliefs) and sporting prowess (notably football, squash, tennis and sailing).

The College is based in 550 acres of countryside in West Sussex near the village of Lancing, west of the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. The College is situated on a hill which is part of the South Downs and the campus dominates the local landscape. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Girls were first admitted in 1971. The school is dominated by a Gothic revival Chapel, and follows a high church Anglican tradition. The College of St Mary and St Nicholas (as it was originally known) was intended for the sons of upper middle classes and professional men; in time this became Lancing College, moving to its present site in 1857.

The school's buildings of the 1850s were designed by the architect Richard Cromwell Carpenter, with later ones by John William Simpson.

Lancing College boards boys and girls between the ages of 13 and 18 at a cost of about £24,000 a year. A small number of the pupils attend Lancing on academic and musical scholarships provided by the school; of the other pupils, some may receive some kind of bursary. The College has many notable past pupils. Former pupils are referred to as OLs.

On September 15 2007, a Hawker Hurricane taking part in the RAFA Battle of Britain air-show crashed in one on the southern fields of the College-owned farm. No spectators were injured but the pilot of the Hurricane was killed.