A piled raft foundation is a type of foundation where the load from the superstructure is shared between the raft and piles. This approach is adopted when the raft alone does not meet design requirements. The study focuses on a three-dimensional finite element analysis of a piled raft foundation under vertical load followed by comparing results with a small-scale laboratory model test. The finite element analysis of piled raft foundation was undertaken using the finite element programme GEOFEM. Laboratory model test of a piled raft made of mild steel was conducted in a test tank filled with sand. Soil was filled by sand raining technique. Raft dimension of 175 mm × 175 mm and a total of 16 piles with a square cross section of 16 mm × 16 mm were adopted. The load settlement behaviour from the model test was used to validate the finite element model. A parametric study was conducted to explore the impact of pile length on the behaviour of piled raft foundations in homogeneous and layered sand. It was found that there was a substantial reduction in settlement and differential settlement of the raft in sand with increasing pile length. The study also notes a more pronounced reduction in settlement for piled rafts in layered soil with smaller pile lengths, particularly when the pile tip rests on dense sand.