Transverse cracking is often the earliest failure mode of composite lami nates with off axis plies. These cracks usually cause stiffness reductions and thus adversely affect performance. In this article, a shear deformation model for the stress analysis of symmetric laminates with centrally located 90 plies subjected to transverse cracking is presented. Axial stiffness reduction predictions are compared with test data and results from other models for (0m/90n)s type cross-ply laminates. The shear deformation analysis is not limited to such laminates as demonstrated by predictions for (± 25–90n)s type lami nates. © 1993, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.