Avoids past graduates (8)
I believe the answer is:
bypasses
'avoids' is the definition.
(bypassing is a kind of avoiding)
'past graduates' is the wordplay.
'past' becomes 'by' (as in years gone by).
'graduates' becomes 'passes' (passes the exam).
'by'+'passes'='BYPASSES'
(Other definitions for bypasses that I've seen before include "Goes around" , "Goes over someone's head" .)