This paper presents the results from an experimental programme that studied the factors affecting the bearing resistance of shallow footings in sand. In particular, the tests considered the effects of the footing width and embedment depth on the pressure-settlement response. By comparing the results with field tests on full-scale footings, simple correlations between the bearing pressure mobilised at normalized settlement levels of 5% and 10% of the footing width and the cone penetration test q_c value were studied. These correlations were found to be independent of footing size, embedment depth and sand state, although they were affected by creep. The rate of mobilisation of the footing resistance at low settlements was found to be strongly dependent on the initial soil state and the previous loading history. A simple non-linear elastic soil model was found to adequately predict this response.