The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 5 letter word TEST PAPER
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
T
E
S
T
P
A
P
E
R
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "exam" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case exam = test paper.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.