AbstractA six‐node plate bending element has been developed by employing mixed formulation based on a modified Hellinger–Reissner principle and the Reissner–Mindlin plate bending theory. The numerical result indicates that, among the types of assumed independent transverse shear strains considered, a combination of 2α version with either 5α version or 6α version is free of spurious kinematic modes and leads to accurate and reliable solutions even for very thi