Increase status in competition (5,2)
I believe the answer is:
crank up
'increase' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'status in competition' is the wordplay.
'status' becomes 'rank' (rank is a kind of status).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'competition' becomes 'cup' (eg the FA Cup).
'rank' inserted within 'cup' is 'CRANK UP'.
(Other definitions for crank up that I've seen before include "Strengthen" , "Increase" .)