Risk taken by learner in part of church (7)
I believe the answer is:
chancel
'part of church' is the definition.
(area of a church)
'risk taken by learner' is the wordplay.
'risk' becomes 'chance' (synonyms).
'taken by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'learner' becomes 'l' (as in a learner driver with L-plates on their car).
'chance'+'l'='CHANCEL'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for chancel that I've seen before include "space for choir" , "Part of church containing altar" , "Where to see choir" , "screened-off area" , "where sanctuary may be found" .)