Confidence is returning to the graduate recruitment market, according to Richard Irwin, head of student recruitment at PwC.

The professional services firm opened its 2011 recruitment for nearly 800 London graduate and intern positions in early October, including 600 graduate and A Level positions, with 250 of the 300 advisory positions and half of the firm’s 150 full-time tax vacancies based in the capital.

More than 8,000 students and graduates have applied for graduate and intern vacancies in the first eight weeks of the 2011 recruitment process, representing a 117% increase on application levels for the same period last year.

“These levels of interest are a promising start to our new recruitment programme, and in part reflect early signs of confidence in the job market returning amongst students. Record attendance at our campus events suggests that there’s a much stronger determination amongst students to get a job or experience as early as possible.

“Interestingly, 47% of students who recently attended our campus reception evenings said they want to work in London after graduation. With the financial services sector waking up in the capital after the slower years of recruitment during the recession, we have to work harder than ever to help talented students understand why PwC is the right choice for them.”