Open University engineers getting advance (8)
I believe the answer is:
overture
'advance' is the definition.
('overture' can be a synonym of 'advance')
'open university engineers getting' is the wordplay.
'open' becomes 'overt' ('overt' is associated in meaning with 'open'**).
'university' becomes 'u'.
'engineers' becomes 're' (Royal Engineers).
'getting' says to put letters next to each other.
'overt'+'u'+'re'='OVERTURE'
(Other definitions for overture that I've seen before include "Proposal" , "Opening gambit" , "Introductory piece" , "Approach made with view to starting relationship" , "10 {COMPOSITION]" .)