# UIL Academics

The University Interscholastic League Academic Contests, also known as UIL Academics, is a series of academic contests offered by the University Interscholastic League in the state of Texas. At the High School level, 30 contests are offered. At the Middle and Elementary School levels, 20 contests are offered. The UIL estimates that more than half a million students participate in its competitions in a given year.

## History

In 1910, the University of Texas at Austin created the extension department to sponsor Academic contests. At the request of the Texas State Teachers Association, this initial organization, then known as the Debating League of Texas High Schools, held its first state championship meet. Sixty students from ten schools participated in a forerunner to today's Cross-Examination Debate. El Paso High School won the inaugural state championship, in 1911. In 1913, the Debating League of Texas voted to merge with the Interscholastic Athletic Association (which sponsored the inaugural Track & Field meet in 1911) and formed the University Interscholastic League.
The league grew rapidly, and some changes were made. In 1918, the UIL excluded private schools from membership, a rule which largely remains in effect today (the exceptions, of course, being that Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas and Strake Jesuit College Preparatory where allowed admission after extensive litigation). In 1920, a team of girls from Mathis High School won the state championship, prompting the league to separate Boy's and Girl's competition. Also in 1920, Prairie View A&M University began the sponsorship of the Prairie View Interscholastic League (PVIL), a UIL alternative for students of color, as the UIL limited its membership to white schools only. Beginning in 1956, the PVIL and the UIL merged into one organization, retaining the UIL name.
In 1945, the UIL created separate conferences for schools of different sizes for the first time, Conference AA for large schools and Conference A for small schools. This temporarily ended gender segregation in debate. In 1947, gender segregation was re-introduced in debate in Conference AA and Conference A was renamed Conference AB. In 1948, Conference AB was disbanded, a City Conference was created for urban schools, and Conference A and Conference B where created for smaller schools. All except Conference B had gender segregation in debate. This structure continued until 1951, when the City Conference was disbanded. In 1959, two new Conferences for Large Schools, Conference AAA and Conference AAAA, where created. Gender segregation existed in both conferences, although Conference A ended its gender segregation. In 1974, all conferences had gender segregation. In 1975, gender segregation in debate ended permanently. In 1981, Conference nomenclature changed, and Conference B became Conference A, and all Conferences will the letter "A" adding an additional A. This five conference system would remain the same until 2014–2015, when Conference AAAAAA was created. In 2020, all events except Congressional Debate where cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Congressional Debate, which holds their state championship in January, was already over before the pandemic began in March).

## Contests offered

* Accounting
* Calculator Applications
* Computer Applications (individual competition only)
* Computer Science
* Current Issues and Events
* Literary Criticism
* Mathematics
* Number Sense
* Ready Writing (individual competition only)
* Science
* Social Studies
* Spelling and Vocabulary
* Speech (an award is given to the top overall school in speech events; the award does not qualify students for advancement)
** Cross-Examination Team Debate (team competition only)
** Lincoln-Douglas Debate (individual competition only)
** Congressional Debate (individual competition only)
** Extemporaneous Informative Speaking (individual competition only)
** Extemporaneous Persuasive Speaking (individual competition only)
** Poetry Interpretation (individual competition only)
** Prose Interpretation (individual competition only)
* Journalism (an award is given to the top overall school in journalism events; the award does not qualify students for advancement)
** Editorial Writing (individual competition only)
** Feature Writing (individual competition only)
** Headline Writing (individual competition only)
** News Writing (individual competition only)
* One-Act Play (team competition plus individual awards that do not lead to advancement) (List of Previous Texas UIL One Act Play Winners)

## Structure and notable rules
### Structure

For all competitions excluding Congressional Debate, the first round of competition is the district level. To advance from district to region, a student must either place top three in their event, be a part of a district champion team, or have their team earn a wild card bid. The first-place finishers in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics (subsections of the Science event) also advance to Region. Advancement from Region to State works similarly.
In Cross-Examination Debate, the top two teams advance directly from district to state. After a day of preliminary rounds, the top sixteen teams in each conference advance to a single elimination bracket to determine a state champion.
In Congressional Debate, the boundaries of the state's twenty Educational Service Centers are used as opposed to districts determined by the league. The top three students from each region in each conference advance to state, although an additional competitor may advance for each ten students beyond thirty that compete at each regional meet. At state, a preliminary and finals round also exists.

### Regional and state host sites

For all events in all conferences, the University of Texas at Austin currently serves as the host site for the state meet, although the Texas State Capitol hosts the State Finals in Congressional Debate.
The following regions are hosted at the following locations:
* 1A Region I - South Plains College in Levelland
* 1A Region II - Angelo State University in San Angelo
* 1A Region III - McMillen High School in Murphy (Plano ISD)
* 1A Region IV - Blinn College in Brenham
* 2A Region I - West Texas A&M in Canyon
* 2A Region II - Grayson College in Denison
* 2A Region III - Panola College in Carthage
* 2A Region IV - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi
* 3A Region I - Abilene Christian University in Abilene
* 3A Region II - Tyler Junior College in Tyler
* 3A Region III - Blinn College in Brenham
* 3A Region IV - Davenport High School in San Antonio
* 4A Region I - Texas Tech University in Lubbock
* 4A Region II - Texas A&M-Commerce in Commerce
* 4A Region III - Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches
* 4A Region IV - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi
* 5A Region I - Texas Tech University in Lubbock
* 5A Region II - University of Texas-Arlington in Arlington
* 5A Region III - Fulshear High School in Fulshear
* 5A Region IV - University of Texas-San Antonio in San Antonio
* 6A Region I - Rock Hill High School in Prosper
* 6A Region II - Baylor University in Waco
* 6A Region III - Seven Lakes High School in Katy
* 6A Region IV - University of Texas-San Antonio in San Antonio

## A+ Academics

UIL A+ Academics are similar to other UIL Academics contests, except they are intended for Elementary and Middle School. Other notable differences exist as well. For example, A+ Academics events have no post-district advancement. Additionally, unlike the high school contests, where the UIL designs districts and regions for competitions, Elementary and Middle schools are free to determine their own districts. For smaller school districts, it is commonplace for multiple ISDs to come together into one A+ Academics District. School districts with multiple elementary or middle schools also organize themselves into districts whenever possible.

### List of events

* Art (two divisions for grades 4–6 and 7–8)
* Calculator Applications (one division for grades 6–8)
* Chess Problem Solving (grades 2–8)
* Creative Writing (one division for grade 2 only)
* Dictionary Skills (two divisions for grades 5–6 and 7–8)
* Editorial Writing (one division for grades 7–8)
* Impromptu Speaking (one division for grades 6–8)
* Listening (two divisions for grades 5–6 and 7–8)
* Maps, Graphs & Charts (two divisions for grades 5–6 and 7–8)
* Mathematics (one division for grades 6–8)
* Modern Oratory (one division for grades 6–8)
* Music Memory (two divisions for grades 3–4 and 5–6)
* Number Sense (two divisions for grades 4–6 and 7–8)
* One-Act Play (one division for grades 6–8)
* Oral Reading (two divisions for grades 4–6 and 7–9)
* Ready Writing (three divisions for grades 3–4, 5–6, and 7–8)
* Science I and II (grades 7 and 8, respectively)
* Social Studies (two divisions for grades 5–6 and 7–8)
* Spelling (three divisions for grades 3–4, 5–6, and 7–8)
* Storytelling (one division for grades 2–3)