The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 12 letter word UNIVERSITIES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
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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 UNIVERSITIES mean?
UNIVERSITIES noun- Institution of higher education (typically accepting students from the age of about 17 or 18, depending on country, but in some exceptional cases able to take younger students) where subjects are studied and researched in depth and degrees are offered.