Summary: A refinement transverse shear deformation theory for multilayered orthotropic plates is developed. The displacements are assumed piecewise linear across the thickness and allow the contact conditions for the displacements and the transverse shearing stresses at the interfaces to be satisfied. By making use of such a displacements field, the strain energy density and the governing differential equations are obtained. The accuracy of the proposed theory is assessed by comparing results obtained by using it with exact three-dimensional and other approximate bidimensional analysis results for the cylindrical bending of an infinite three-layered, symmetric cross-ply strip.