The 2016 Scottish Women's Premier League was the 15th season of the SWPL, the highest division of women's football in Scotland since 2002. For the first time, the league was split into two divisions of eight teams each, SWPL 1 and SWPL 2. The split into two divisions reduced the number of top-division teams from 12 to 8. The change was made to increase competitiveness in the league. SWPL 2 became the new level 2 Scottish women's league, displacing the First Division (SWFL 1) to level 3.