Student’s beset by evil, being blunt (8)
I believe the answer is:
baldness
'student's beset by evil being blunt' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'student's beset by evil being blunt' is the wordplay.
'student' becomes 'L' (as in L-plates for learner drivers).
'beset by' means one lot of letters goes inside another ('beset' could historically mean 'cover').
'evil' becomes 'bad' (associated in meaning).
'being blunt' becomes 'ness' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'l' put inside 'bad' is 'bald'.
'bald'+'ness'='BALDNESS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for baldness that I've seen before include "Lack of hair" , "honesty" , "Alopecia" , "Hairlessness" .)