Close to crying, student at the back gets reprimand (7)
I believe the answer is:
tearful
'close to crying student' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'at the back gets reprimand' is the wordplay.
'at the back' becomes 't' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'gets' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'reprimand' becomes 'earful' (earful is a kind of reprimand).
't'+'earful'='TEARFUL'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tearful that I've seen before include "visibly distressed" , "Inclined to cry" , "emotional" , "Lachrymose, blubbering" , "Visibly upset" .)