The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 5 letter word TOP MARKS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
T
O
P
M
A
R
K
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "As for pupils" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case as for pupils = top marks.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.