Grand work before university term at Cambridge, say (7)
I believe the answer is:
opulent
'grand' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'work before university term at cambridge say' is the wordplay.
'work' becomes 'op' (abbreviation for opus).
'before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'university' becomes 'u'.
'term at cambridge say' becomes 'lent' (Lent is a term at Cambridge).
'op'+'u'+'lent'='OPULENT'
(Other definitions for opulent that I've seen before include "Wealthy, got lots of money" , "Let up on, being wealthy" , "'Rich, luxurious (7)'" , "'Deluxe, luxurious (7)'" , "'Rich, sumptuous (7)'" .)