Students acted badly at school (6)
I believe the answer is:
cadets
'students' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'acted badly at school' is the wordplay.
'badly' is an anagram indicator (letters in the wrong order).
'at' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'school' becomes 'S'.
'acted' is an anagram of 'cadet'.
'cadet'+'s'='CADETS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cadets that I've seen before include "Officers potentially" , "Trainee army officers" , "Pupils" , "Army officer trainees" , "Casted as young army men" .)