The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England.

Lancing was founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard and educates c. 600 pupils between the ages of 13 and 18; the co-educational ratio is c. 60:40 boys to girls.

The college is situated on a hill which is part of the South Downs, and the campus dominates the local landscape.

However John Dancy was appointed headmaster in 1953 to improve academic standards, which had taken second place to prowess in sport.

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

In 2003, it was one of fifty of the country's leading independent schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents.

[7] The structure itself would not be fully completed until long after Woodard's death in 1891, although the tower at the west end that had been planned in the 1800s would not be built as of 2024;.

"Despite a shortage of funds, he turned all the vaults and oversaw the completion of all but two bays of the main interior ..." according to a 2024 report.

[16] Lancing College Chapel was closed to visitors during the coronavirus pandemic and, subsequently, during the construction of the west end porch and refurbishment work on the school kitchens opposite, reopening to the public on 25 April 2022.

[17] Both the main college and the prep school buildings were requisitioned by the Admiralty and became part of the Royal Navy shore establishment HMS King Alfred.