Most charming head of school, small, seen before exam (8)
I believe the answer is:
sweetest
'most charming' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are superlative adjectives. Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'head of school small seen before exam' is the wordplay.
'head of' indicates taking the first letters.
'small' becomes 'wee' (Scottish term for small).
'seen before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'exam' becomes 'test' (synonyms).
The initial letter of 'school' is 's'.
's'+'wee'+'test'='SWEETEST'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sweetest that I've seen before include "having most sugar" , "most attractive" , "'''Success is counted ...by those who ne'er succeed'' (Emily Dickinson) (8)'" , "Superlative winning" , "Most appealing" .)