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The University Interscholastic League, the main governing body for academic, athletic, and music competition among public schools in the U. S. state of Texas, sanctions many events for students in grades 2 to 12. Competition in grades 2–8 is limited to district only. Competition in grades 9–12 advances (in most cases) from district to region to state. In addition to individual and team awards in the separate contest events, schools are also eligible to win an overall district academic championship award and/or an overall district spring meet sweepstakes award (the latter combines the results of the academic events with the results of singles tennis, doubles tennis, mixed doubles tennis, individual track and field events, relay track events, and team golf). Generally, points are awarded to each school for individuals placing first through sixth place and for teams placing first or second, plus additional points for certain academic contests. Overall academic championship awards are also given at the regional and state level using the same point system. Schools also compete for the Lone Star Cup, which is awarded to one school statewide in each conference. Points for the Lone Star Cup are awarded in a different manner than for the academic or spring meet championship awards described above and include results of state level academic, athletic, and music competitions. For fine arts and journalism contests, the UIL has not adopted an "amateur rule.” Thus, students who have acted or performed professionally or who have written for a local newspaper may still compete in UIL sanctioned contests provided they are otherwise eligible.

Each UIL member school is allowed to enter between 3 and 6 students in most events, depending on the specific rules for the event. Schools may enter up to three two member teams in Cross Examination Team Debate, except that if a school's UIL district has less than eight teams entered it may enter a fourth team. One Act Plays may have up to 15 cast members plus 5 crew members. Each school may enter one play for competition, except that if a school's UIL district has three or less plays entered each school in that district may be allowed to enter a second play.

Academic events at the high school level are held in the spring. Schools compete within the same conference as in athletics and marching band. There is no division of competition by grade level in high school academic events; all students in grades 9–12 that compete in a particular event compete against each other. Advancement is from district to region to state except in Cross Examination Team Debate, where advancement is directly from district to state, and in One Act Play, where advancement is from district to area to region to state. Furthermore, districts with eight or more competing schools may subdivide into zones and hold One Act Play competitions in each zone in order to select schools to advance to the district level. Except for Cross Examination Team Debate and One Act Play, the top three individuals and all members of the first place team (for events with team components) are certified to advance to the next level of competition. The UIL has also adopted a "wild card" system for those events with team components, which is made possible since all test materials are uniform throughout the state. Under the wild card system, the highest scoring second place team from among all districts in each region will advance to the region meet, and the highest scoring second place team from all four regions in each conference will advanced to the state meet. In the Science competition, in addition to the top three individuals and top team, the top scorers in each of the three subject areas of biology, chemistry, and physics also advance to the next level of competition. All students who advance to the next level of competition are eligible to earn individual medals, even if they advanced as part of a team or as one of the Science top subject area scorers. In Cross Examination Team Debate, the first and second place teams in each district advance directly to state, though additional qualification criteria must be met depending on the number of teams entered and the number of schools represented in the district meet. In One Act Play, two unranked plays from each level of competition are selected to advance with plays only being ranked at the state meet. In order to determine the school with the best overall school in a conference, points are awarded to the top six finishers and top two teams. Certain events also have bonus points, and in many cases an event will have a cap to the maximum number of points a school can be awarded.

Each UIL member school may enter between 3 and 5 students in each division of each event, depending on the specific rules for the event. One Act Play rules and entry guidelines for junior high are commensurate with those for high school.

Elementary and junior high school district academic meets may be held in either the fall or the spring, but not both. Elementary and junior high students competing in academic events cannot advance beyond the district level. Events that are available for four or more grade levels are divided into two or three divisions based on grade level, though district executive committees may create separate divisions for each grade level if they wish. Rules allow students to compete in a division for older students if they wish. Science I is for 7th graders and Science II is for 8th graders; while students in 6th grade may enter Science I and students in 7th grade may enter Science II, no student can compete in Science I or II for more than one year.

UIL athletic competition is held in grades 7–12. At the junior high level (grades 7–8), there is no athletic competition beyond the district level. Sixth grade students may only compete in athletics if they will be too old the following year to compete on a seventh grade team or if a junior high school has too few seventh and eighth grade students to field a combined team. With only a few exceptions due to disability, sixth graders are not allowed to compete in individual sports. High school team sports compete at freshman, junior varsity, and varsity levels, with only varsity teams being eligible for advancement to the playoffs beyond the district level. Students may only compete in team and individual sports at the high school varsity level for four years and must be under the age of 19, though the age restriction may be waived by state level officers in certain circumstances. In addition, varsity athletes must adhere to a whole host of other rules that encompass parent residence, amateur status, non recruitment, and steroid testing. In football, six man football, volleyball, basketball, soccer, baseball, and softball, teams compete for the state championship through a playoff system, with each district entitled to 2–4 playoff representatives depending on the sport and conference (within each sport and conference, every district has equal representation). In cross country, golf, swimming and diving, team tennis, tennis, track and field, and wrestling, students and teams compete in meets/tournaments advancing from district to region to state.

Marching Band, Concert Performance, and Sightreading are open to both high school and junior high school groups, though junior high schools cannot advance beyond the region level in Marching Band. Solo and ensemble competition is only offered at the high school level, though there are some circumstances in which seventh and eighth grade students may compete in ensembles. The Music Theory competition is only open to students in grades 9–12. Sightreading is a mandatory competition for any school that has a contestant in regional competition, and all contestants representing the school at region must compete in a sightreading competition, though the school can have two groups and designate one group as "non varsity" (which means that they will sight read a different piece).

In odd numbered years, marching bands in Conferences A, AA, AAA and AAAAA may advance from region to area, and in even numbered years marching bands in Conferences AAAA and AAAAAA may advance. Any marching band that earns a Division I rating at the region competition qualifies to advance. In the event that less than two bands in a conference earn a Division I rating at the region competition, the judging panel will select two bands from that conference to advance. At the area competition, bands are ranked against the other bands in their own conferences and the top bands from each area advance to the state competition. The exact number bands that will advance from area to state is dependent on the number competing bands in each conference. Students who earn a Division I rating at the region Solo Small Ensemble contest may advance to the Texas State Solo & Ensemble Contest. In almost all cases, a solo must have been performed by memory at the region competition to qualify for advancement, though some virtuosic instrumental solos have been identified that may be performed with music and still qualify to advance. Because the Music Theory competition is held only in conjunction with this state level event, advancement from the region level is not required to compete in Music Theory. There is no competition beyond the region level for Concert Performance, Sight Reading, or Medium Ensemble Performance. However, a state level Wind Ensemble Festival is held each spring in which all participating wind ensembles (i. e., concert bands) must have earned a Division I rating in Concert Performance at the region competition. The Wind Ensemble Festival is an educational rather than a competitive event.