The men were believed to be students and tutors at private colleges in Pretoria.

Five men have been arrested for allegedly stealing exam papers from the University of SA's (Unisa) Pretoria campus, the Hawks said on Wednesday.

Captain Paul Ramaloko said the five men, four of them Zimbabweans, were arrested on Tuesday.

"We were following up on information about exam papers being sold [when we made the arrests]."

The men were believed to be students and tutors at private colleges in Pretoria.

The men would face charges of possession of suspected stolen property.

Ramaloko said it was possible that the men could also be charged with fraud.

They would appear in Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Thursday.

Unisa spokesman Martin Ramotshela said the university would respond to questions later on Wednesday.

The Times quoted him as saying: "We view such transgressions in a serious light. When necessary, we will take disciplinary action." An internal investigation was underway.

Unisa felt the integrity of exams remained intact, despite the breach.

According to The Times, a lecturer, who asked not to be named, said the exams would need to be reset.

"This will be tedious, especially if it is for third, fourth and exit year students, because the setting and marking of exam papers involves external modulators," he said.