Crossword Genius

Aristocratic senior pupils, perhaps (5,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

upper class

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'aristocratic' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'senior pupils perhaps' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'pupils' could be 'class' (I've seen this before) and 'class' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'upper' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for upper class that I've seen before include "Aristocratic" , "Posh" , "Top social echelon" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app