The experimental study in this paper focuses on the effects of the layer orientation and sample shape on failure strength and fracture pattern of samples tested under Brazilian test conditions (i.e. diametrical loading of cylindrical discs) for one particular layered sandstone which is from Modave in the south of Belgium. The variations of the strength in combination with the failure patterns are examined as a function of the inclination angle between the layer plane and the loading direction. The experimental, results clearly show that the induced fracture patterns are a combination of tensile and/or shear fractures. In shape effect experiments the layer thickness and the number of layer boundaries are investigated. Different blocks of Modave sandstone are used to prepare samples. The layer thickness is different among the various blocks, but the layer thickness in each studied rock block can be considered to be constant;hence, the number of layer boundaries changes according to the sample diameter for samples of the same block. The experimental study shows that the layer thickness plays a more important role than the number of layer boundaries per sample.