Extremely disconsolate graduate, regularly called a failure (7)
I believe the answer is:
debacle
'a failure' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Utter failure' mean 'debacle' so perhaps 'failure' could also mean 'debacle')
'extremely disconsolate graduate regularly called' is the wordplay.
'extremely' means to remove the middle letters.
'graduate' becomes 'ba'.
'regularly' means one should take alternating letters (regularly take one letter, leave next etc.).
'disconsolate' with its middle taken out is 'de'.
The alternating letters of 'called' are 'cle'.
'de'+'ba'+'cle'='DEBACLE'
(Other definitions for debacle that I've seen before include "Rout; disaster" , "Pasting" , "Great disaster" , "Disatrous collapse" , "Utter failure" .)