The Division I tournament began on 10 January 2016 in Miskolc, Hungary at the Miskolc Arena. Germany, Hungary, Norway and Slovakia returned to compete in the Division I competition after missing promotion to the Championship Division at the previous years World Championships. Denmark gained promotion to the 2016 Division I tournament after finishing first in last years Division I Qualification and Japan was relegated from the Championship Division after failing to survive the relegation round at the 2015 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship.