In this work, we present the behaviour of laminated composite plates, subjected to a static bending load under the influence of varying value of material length scale parameters. Reddy’s (J Appl Mech 51:745, 1984 [1]) third order shear deformation theory (TSDT) is used, which describes the kinematics accurately. The geometric nonlinearity, which prevails under the effect of large deformations, is accounted using von Karman nonlinear strains. Finite element model is developed using four-noded rectangular conforming element. Tangent stiffness matrix is derived to implement Newton Raphson method. The concept of non-locality is adopted from the works of Eringen and Edelen (Int J Eng Sci 10:233, 1972 [2]). Parametric study has been conducted to investigate the effect of non-locality and non-linearity on the behaviour of laminated composites. © 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature.