Study aids provided by heavyweight backing French art (5)
I believe the answer is:
notes
'study aids' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'by heavyweight backing french art' is the wordplay.
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'heavyweight' becomes 'ton' (a ton weighs a lot).
'backing' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'french art' becomes 'es' ('is' in French - 'art' can mean 'is' eg 'thou art').
'ton' backwards is 'not'.
'not' put next to 'es' is 'NOTES'.
'provided' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for notes that I've seen before include "Lines" , "Memos; marks" , "Sounds" , "Sees" , "Brief letters; money" .)