Student artist at home, protected by support on course (7)
I believe the answer is:
trainee
'student' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'artist at home protected by support on course' is the wordplay.
'artist' becomes 'ra' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'at home' becomes 'in' ('in' can be similar in meaning to 'at home').
'protected by' indicates putting letters inside.
'support on course' becomes 'tee' (golf tee on a golf course).
'ra'+'in'='rain'
'rain' inserted within 'tee' is 'TRAINEE'.
(Other definitions for trainee that I've seen before include "One being instructed" , "21 [TYRO]" , "Person being taught" , "novice" , "Person under instruction" .)