Ring lady needing university permit (7)
I believe the answer is:
annulet
'ring' is the definition.
(annulet is a kind of ring)
'lady needing university permit' is the wordplay.
'lady' becomes 'ann' (**).
'needing' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'university' becomes 'u'.
'permit' becomes 'let' ('let' can be a synonym of 'permit').
'ann'+'u'+'let'='ANNULET'
(Other definitions for annulet that I've seen before include "Small band around a column" , "Band around a column; heraldic ring" , "Heraldic small ring" , "small charge" , "Small ring (heraldry)" .)