Students take woman to be equal (5)
I believe the answer is:
level
'be equal' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'students take woman' is the wordplay.
'students' becomes 'LL' (an abbreviation for learner driver written twice).
'take' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'woman' becomes 'eve' (Eve is an example).
'll' placed around 'eve' is 'LEVEL'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for level that I've seen before include "Experience an evening out" , "Not in front or behind" , "Even - equal" , "Absolutely horizontal" , "Floor; surveying device" .)