Exam offers alternative to a student (4)
I believe the answer is:
oral
'exam' is the definition.
(spoken academic test)
I don't understand the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for oral that I've seen before include "Verbal" , "By word of mouth, say exam" , "Type of examination" , "Spoken test" , "from the trap" .)