Competitor getting points before teacher's first tirade (7)
I believe the answer is:
entrant
'competitor' is the definition.
(someone who has entered a competition)
'points before teacher's first tirade' is the wordplay.
'points' becomes 'en' (compass points east and north).
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'teacher's first' becomes 't' (1st letter of 'teacher').
'tirade' becomes 'rant' (both can mean an angry outburst).
'en'+'t'+'rant'='ENTRANT'
'getting' is the link.
(Other definitions for entrant that I've seen before include "One going in for exam" , "Participant in, eg, a race" , "Newcomer" , "Someone signing up for a competition" , "Candidate" .)