Crossword Genius

Lads in top form? (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

schoolboys

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'lads in top form?' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?

'lads in' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'lads' could be 'boys' (I've seen this before) and 'boys' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'school' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for schoolboys that I've seen is " pupils".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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