The bottom two teams (11th and 12th) of each respective group at the season's end will be relegated to the First League, the third division of Ethiopian football.

Mekelle City and Hadiya Hossana played in a one-game playoff to decide the third and final promotion out of the league, the game was won by Mekelle City (the club's first promotion into the Ethiopian Premier League).

[3] Bahir Dar Kenema and Debub Police S.C. were automatically promoted to the 2018-19 Ethiopian Premier League after winning their respective groups.

[4] Shire Endaselassie became the third and last club to be promoted to the 2018-19 Ethiopian Premier League after beating Jimma Aba Buna in a playoff match in Hawassa.

[5] During the 2020-21 season, some team were for forced to forfeit their matches due to unpaid payments to the league.