Friends at school caught on carpet being hugged by girls (10)
I believe the answer is:
classmates
'friends' is the definition.
(classmate is a kind of friend)
'caught on carpet being hugged by girls' is the wordplay.
'caught' becomes 'c' (cricket abbreviation).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'carpet' becomes 'mat' (a mat is a floor covering).
'being hugged by' is an insertion indicator (I've seen this in other clues).
'girls' becomes 'lasses' (lass can mean a girl).
'mat' inserted into 'lasses' is 'lassmates'.
'c'+'lassmates'='CLASSMATES'
'at school' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for classmates that I've seen before include "Pupils in the same form" , "Fellow school pals" , "Fellows in education" .)