This study examines whether some English and Welsh secondary schools have consistently lost market share since 1988, whether the same schools are becoming relatively more socially disadvantaged in socioeconomic terms, whether the schools are in a spiral of decline, and whether the spirals of decline are caused by school choice. It outlines changes over time in school recruitment for all secondary schools between 1989, the introduction of open enrollment, and 1999, the most recent figures available. Data come from a database on the size and socioeconomic composition of all English and Welsh secondary schools and from interviews with local education authority (LEA) officials. Overall, the rise in the secondary school age cohort means that the actual number of students enrolled has generally increased in most schools. This has been reinforced by a program of school closure and amalgamation during the first half of the 1990s. There is no empirical evidence to support the notion of spirals of decline resulting from increased market forces since 1988, given the very limited number of schools actually decreasing in size and the even smaller number of schools that also increased their share of students facing socioeconomic disadvantage. (Contains 15 figures and 54 references.) (SM)