Sort of course in Religious Education given to new student (9)
I believe the answer is:
refresher
'sort of course' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'religious education given to new student' is the wordplay.
'religious education' becomes 're'.
'given to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'new student' becomes 'fresher' (I've seen this before).
're'+'fresher'='REFRESHER'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for refresher that I've seen before include "Sort of course" , "course of sorts" , "drink" , "one kind of course" , "Follow-up course; extra fee in long court case" .)