The reality of soil profile is always stratified with a combination of c, ϕ or c–ϕ soil. The foundation in such soil profile needs more understanding than the conventional, especially if it is a laterally loaded pile. From the previous study, it is understood that the top layer soil plays a major role in contributing capacity to the pile. In this study, the behaviour of single pile in alternative layers of clay and sand is considered. The clayey soil is prepared for a 0.2 consistency and sand of 50% relative density. The initial study was conducted in the laboratory for a homogenous soil of sand and clay layer and it is further compared with 5 layers of soil conditions, i.e. clay–sand–clay–sand–clay and sand–clay–sand–clay–sand for a long flexible pile of L/D ratio of 24 for a length of pile as 456 mm and diameter as 19 mm. Understanding the complexity of soil-structure interactional behaviour of pile subjected to lateral load in stratified soil, the number of layers is extended to 6 and 8 with top layer as clay. With increase in stratification number of layers, the capacity increases compared to homogeneous soil layer capacity. For 5 layer stratification, with top as clay layer, the capacity increases by 5.9%, whereas for 6 layers, it increases by11.89% and for 8 layers, it increases by 39.29%.