The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word ENROLMENT
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
E
N
R
O
L
M
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T
More clues leading to the result ENROLMENT
- Enlisting men wanting leadership, mounted men and men flanked by officer
- Chaps coming in to learn, confused after missing a preparation for course
- Contrariwise, teaching brings in new workers to start joining up
- Registration of mentor Len upset
- Environmentally bad bar vainly struggling for registration
- Record membership for start of the student year
- Weird loner joins police force accepting new admission
- Joining programme in French, learner meets chaps getting into moonshine
- Registration work, mostly by chaps in hospital department
- Signing up for battle, not a normal teen
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "preparation for course" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case preparation for course = enrolment.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.
What does ENROLMENT mean?
ENROLMENT noun- The act of enrolling or the state of being enrolled.
- The people enrolled, considered as a group.
- The number of people enrolled.
- The record of such enrolling; registration.