The spin-5/2 Blume–Capel model was studied using the mean-field approximation and the Migdal–Kadanoff renormalization group method for two- and three-dimensional systems. We determined the phase diagrams in the (crystal field, temperature) plane where the system exhibited first- and second-order phase transitions as well as isolated critical, bicritical and triple points. In order to show first-order transitions at low temperature, we presented the total magnetization per site and the derivative of the free energy as a function of the crystal field. Moreover, the critical exponents of the system were calculated by linearizing the renormalization transformation at the vicinity of the second-order fixed points.