During the season, which runs from August to May, each club plays each of the other teams twice; once at home and once away, totalling 38 games for each team by the end of the season. Thus, in Italian football a true round-robin format is used. In the first half of the season, called the andata, each team plays once against each league opponent, for a total of 19 games. In the second half of the season, called the ritorno, the teams play in exactly the same order that they did in the first half of the season, the only difference being that home and away situations are switched. Since the 1994–95 season, teams are awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for a loss.

From 2005–06 season if two or more teams are tied in points (for any place), the deciding tie-breakers are as follows:

1. Head-to-head records (results and points)
2. Goal difference of head-to-head games
3. Goal difference overall
4. Higher number of goals scored
5. Draw

The top four teams in the Serie A qualify for the UEFA Champions League (from the 2017–18 season). The top three teams qualify directly to the group phase, while the fourth-placed team enters the competition at the playoff qualifying round and must win a two-legged knockout tie in order to enter the group phase. Teams finishing fifth and sixth qualify for the UEFA Europa League tournament. A third UEFA Europa League spot is reserved for the winner of the Coppa Italia. If the Coppa Italia champion already qualified for European football by finishing among the top five teams in Serie A, the seventh-ranked team in Serie A is awarded the UEFA Europa League spot. The three lowest-placed teams are relegated to Serie B.