English course in north-west, skipping excellent French course
I believe the answer is:
entree
'course' is the definition.
(entree is a kind of course)
'english course in north-west' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'course' becomes 'n'.
'in north west' becomes 'tree' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'e'+'n'+'tree'='ENTREE'
'skipping excellent french' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for entree that I've seen before include "The right ot privilege of admission" , "Dinner course" , "Dish; right of admission" , "Starter" , "formal entrance" .)