Static analysis of laminated composite and sandwich shell is presented by developing a C₀ finite element (FE) formulation based on higher order zigzag theory (HOZT) using Sander’s approximations. The proposed model satisfies the inter-laminar shear stress continuity at the interfaces; and zero transverse shear stress conditions at shell top and bottom. This is the first finite element implementation of the HOZT to solve the problem of shells incorporating cross curvature effects in shells. The present HOZT predicts transverse shear stresses more accurately than FE results previously published in literature. Numerical results show that the present 2D model is very efficient in predicting the static response of laminated composite and sandwich shallow shell very close to 3D elasticity solutions.