Abstract: Air-boosted vacuum preloading (AVP) has been proposed as a new technique of ground improvement. It has been utilized in many field projects to accelerate consolidation and increase the bearing capacity of soft soil ground. There are few researches on its consolidation theories, and the existing models are not clear and unified. To fill this gap, based on different unit cell division methods, the air-boosted pipes and prefabricated vertical drains (PVD) are both introduced into the unit cell, and two analytical models for the consolidation of AVP-improved ground under different radial flow directions are established. Moreover, the smear effect and well resistance of PVDs and the radial-vertical seepage within soil body are also considered to obtain analytical solutions. Then the solution is applied to the degradation study through a comparison with existing solutions. Moreover, the obtained solutions under instantaneously loading are adopted to analyze the influence of several parameters on the consolidation behavior. Finally, the average degrees of consolidation calculated by the proposed analytical models are compared against the measured data in the literature. The results show that the settlements predicted by both analytical models agree well with the measured data. Compared with the inward flow model, the outward flow model usually predicts a faster consolidation rate and the maximum difference in calculated values is 5%. Furthermore, a denser layout of PVDs, a larger value of horizontal permeability coefficient of smear zone and a smaller influence area of PVDs will lead to a faster consolidation of soft ground.