The composite steel plate shear wall (C-SPW), composed of infill steel plate and reinforced concrete encasements, is widely used as a lateral load resisting system in high-rise buildings. The reinforced concrete encasement is connected to one or both sides of the infill steel plate using headed studs. Previous in vestigations have mainly focused on the seismic behaviour of C-SPWs and the bending failure of the connector, as explored in some experimental studies , are found before C-SPW achieve its target drift ratio. However, the behaviour of the headed stud, which plays an important role in the performance of C-SPWs, has been largely neglected. In this paper, a study of the tensile force and bending moment demands on headed studs in the design of C-SPWs is performed by using the finite element method. As the theoretical basis, the development, distribution and formation mechanisms of stud tension and bending moment are analysed. The effects of the headed stud diameter, number of headed studs, infill steel plate thickness, concrete panel thickness and panel aspect ratio on the stud performance are investigated. Based on this, available formulas for the tension and bending moment demands on headed studs in the design of C-SPWs are proposed.