This paper analyzes the data of a survey conducted by means of a student questionnaire which was aimed at opening a window onto the expectations and concerns of the real actors of CLIL on the eve of its real implementation. The questionnaire was circulated amongst numerous schools in the province of Naples but only produced 226 responses. Some of the students surveyed do not seem to be very optimistic about the possible trickle down effects of CLIL on the school system: some are aware that what actually makes a reform worth carrying out is, on the one hand, the individual teacher 's ability to impact his/her students’ learning, on the other the student's own effort to progress. Several students have expressed serious concern about the possibility that poor communicative competence can affect the assimilation of contents, ie. they are putting their finger on the sore spot of the reform: assessment of progress is still a relatively unexplored area of CLIL ​​research.