Alternative to a Latin exam (4)
I believe the answer is:
oral
'exam' is the definition.
(spoken academic test)
'alternative to a latin' is the wordplay.
'alternative' becomes 'or'.
'latin' becomes 'l'.
'or'+'a'+'l'='ORAL'
(Other definitions for oral that I've seen before include "'Spoken, not written (4)'" , "Related to the mouth" , "Type of examination" , "Spoken - examination" , "Exam using speech" .)