SummaryPupil attitudes towards computer assisted learning (CAL) are of crucial importance to the success of the microcomputer as an educational technology, but relatively little information about them is available. A questionnaire survey of secondary pupils' attitudes towards the introduction of computers into English lessons, supplemented by interview, indicates a general preference for computer assisted learning. Pupils evaluate the software used in their lessons primarily on its ability to offer them cognitive challenge. However, pupils' perception of their learning and of potential applications of computers is limited by their expectations of English lessons, especially of the need for basic literacy skills. Few sex‐related differences are evident, though girls express slightly less positive attitudes. Pupil responses to the questionnaire and in interview are almost entirely concerned with learning issues rather than with features of the sophisticated technology itself. Therefore program quality is an issue of paramount importance to the future of CAL.