Programme putting retired friend in second vehicle (8)
I believe the answer is:
syllabus
'programme' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Programme of study' mean 'syllabus' so perhaps 'programme' could also mean 'syllabus')
'retired friend in second vehicle' is the wordplay.
'retired' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'friend' becomes 'ally' (I've seen this before).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'second' becomes 's' (common abbreviation).
'vehicle' becomes 'bus' (I've seen this before).
'ally' back-to-front is 'ylla'.
's'+'bus'='sbus'
'ylla' placed within 'sbus' is 'SYLLABUS'.
'putting' is the link.
(Other definitions for syllabus that I've seen before include "Topics prescribed for a course" , "Prescribed course of study" , "List of subjects for study" , "Outline of subjects included in course of study" , "(School) subjects" .)