This paper presents a study on the structural behaviour of modular steel scaffolds through both experimental and numerical investigations. Three one-storey and three two-storey modular steel scaffolds were built and tested to failure in order to examine the structural behaviour of typical modular steel scaffolds. Details of the tests and their test results were presented in this paper. Moreover, an advanced non-linear analysis method was employed to evaluate the load carrying capacities of these scaffolds under different support conditions. Comparisons between the experimental and the numerical results on the structural behaviour of these modular steel scaffolds were also presented. Moreover, the restraining effects of external supports in practical situations were also studied through finite element methods. The predicted load carrying capacities and deformations at failure of these models under partially restrained conditions were found to be close to the experimental results. A codified design method for column buckling with modified slenderness ratios was adopted for practical design of modular steel scaffolds.