Very much determined by learner's first year (9)

I believe the answer is:

decidedly

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'very' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'much determined by learner's first year' is the wordplay.
'much determined' becomes 'decided' (synonyms. I am not sure about the 'much' bit.).
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'learner's first' becomes 'l' (dst letter of 'learner').
'year' becomes 'y'.
'decided'+'l'+'y'='DECIDEDLY'

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I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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