The UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship consists of three distinct stages: two qualifying rounds and an eight-team final tournament.

Qualifying round
The competition begins with one-venue four-team mini-tournaments, although the nations with the highest UEFA coefficient may be given byes to the second qualifying round. The winners and runners-up of the groups go through along with the required number of third-placed teams with the best record against the first and second-placed teams, to ensure there are 24 sides in the next phase.

Elite round
The 24 teams are drawn into six groups of four teams. The groups are played as one-venue mini-tournaments with the winners and the runners-up with the best record against the teams first and third in their section progressing to the finals to join the hosts.

Final tournament
The eight teams are split into two groups of four. The top two in each group go through to the knockout phase, beginning in the semi-finals.

Further details, including the criteria for separating teams that finish level on points in a group, or after 80 minutes in a match, can be found in the official competition regulations.