A woman who hid in a cleaners' cupboard until staff had gone home so she could steal nearly 100 exam papers from Otago University has failed in a bid to avoid conviction.

The 23-year-old has appeared in Auckland District Court this afternoon after pleading guilty to a charge of burglary in December.

She has been granted permanent name suppression because of mental health issues.

Judge David Sharp said a conviction would have significant consequences for the woman, but it did not wholly outweigh the seriousness of her actions.

He described the defendant as "a good student with a lot of talent", but said the burglary and the wide-reaching impact it had was troubling.

"What you did was not highly sophisticated ... but notwithstanding that, what you did was relatively determined," the judge said.

"You had to conduct quite a search before you found the examination papers."

Judge Sharp sentenced the woman to a year's supervision and ordered her to pay reparation of $6400 dollars.

Since charges were laid she had been suspended from the university and a decision on whether she could return was pending.

The university's deputy proctor Andrew Ferguson said they were very pleased with the result.

"It will finally give some closure to both the university staff and students involved in this very serious matter."