Restricted round end of semester, being examined (5)
I believe the answer is:
tried
'examined' is the definition.
(trying is a kind of examining)
'restricted round end of semester' is the wordplay.
'restricted' becomes 'tied' (tying is a kind of restricting).
'round' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'end of' indicates one should take the final letters.
The last letter of 'semester' is 'r'.
'tied' going around 'r' is 'TRIED'.
'being' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for tried that I've seen before include "checked out" , "Attempted" , "heard in court" , "Made an effort" , "Proven by experience" .)