After a single round-robin series in each group, the four teams from Group A and the best two teams from Group B advance to the Playoff Round while the third- and fourth-placed team in Group B will play a best-of-three relegation round series.
The two top-seeded teams from Group A will receive Quarter-Final Round bye thus moving automatically to the Semi-Finals. The Quarter-Finals will be played between 3A-2B and 4A-1B. The winner of each Quarter-Final moves onto the Semi-Finals, while the loser will play a placement game.
The winner of each Semi-Final game will move onto the Gold Medal Game, while the losers will play in the Bronze Medal Game.
The winner of the best-of-three Relegation Round series will play again in the Top Division at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship, while the loser is relegated to the Division I Group A.