This paper presents the experimental and numerical investigation into the behaviour of headed shear studs in composite beams with profiled metal deck flooring. A new single-sided horizontal push test arrangement is proposed to evaluate the shear capacity of the headed shear connectors in pairs with metal deck profiled sheeting. The characteristic resistance obtained from the horizontal push test is compared with Eurocode 4. A three-dimensional finite element model was developed using general purpose finite element program ABAQUS/Explicit. The shear connector capacity, load-slip behaviour and failure modes are validated against experimental results and close correlations were obtained.