Academic type pulls up (4)
I believe the answer is:
swot
'academic type' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'pulls up' is the wordplay.
'pulls' becomes 'tows' (tow is a kind of pull).
'up' says the letters should be written backwards (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'tows' backwards is 'SWOT'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for swot that I've seen before include "Very diligent student" , "Person who studies hard" , "Of student, study hard" , "Study intensively for an exam" , "Learner" .)