In the present study, a finite strip method for the vibration and stability analyses of anisotropic laminated composite plates is developed according to the higher-order shear deformation theory. This theory accounts for the parabolic distribution of the transverse shear strains through the thickness of the plate and for zero transverse shear stresses on the plate surfaces. In comparison with the finite strip method based on the first-order shear deformation theory, the present method gives improved results for very thick plates while using approximately the same number of degrees of freedom. It also eliminates the need for shear correction factors in calculating the transverse shear stiffness. A number of numerical examples are presented to show the effect of aspect ratio, length-to-thickness ratio, number of plies, fibre orientation and stacking sequence on the natural frequencies and critical buckling loads of simply supported rectangular cross-ply and arbitrary angle-ply composite laminates.