The league was contested by 54 teams, divided into a total of seven groups from four districts; Østland/Søndre, Østland/Nordre, Sørland/Vestland and Møre/Trøndelag.
[1] The two group winners in the Østland districts, Larvik Turn and Lillestrøm promoted directly to the 1952–53 Hovedserien.
The other five group winners qualified for promotion play-offs to compete for two spots in the following season's top flight.
Varegg won 2–1 over Ålgård and were promoted to Hovedserien.
Ranheim won 2–0 over Hødd and were promoted to Hovedserien.