The typical format of the league involves 16 clubs playing a double round-robin tournament over 30 matchdays (with the exception of shortened
1992 and
1995 seasons, which were a single round-robin tournaments). On several occasions the number of participating teams was smaller (15 or 14), due to last minute withdrawals and no teams available for replacement. In most of the seasons, two best teams are getting promoted to
Belarusian Premier League, while two worst teams are relegated to the
Belarusian Second League. ==First League in 2025==