Fair at English, one taking an examination (9)

I believe the answer is:

candidate

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'one taking an examination' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.

'fair at english' is the wordplay.
'fair' becomes 'candid' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'candid'+'at'+'e'='CANDIDATE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for candidate that I've seen before include "Competitor" , "runner" , "Election nominee" , "Applicant; examinee" , "Campaigner" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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