Abstract The influence of the laminate lay-up on the mechanical response and the damage development during fatigue loading of SiC fibre toughened BMAS glass-ceramic matrix composites was studied at room temperature. Uni-directional, cross-plied, angle-plied, and quasi-isotropic laminates were investigated. The different materials survived 10 6 fatigue cycles for maximum fatigue stresses below a stress level dependent on the laminate lay-up. The thus defined fatigue limit decreased from 375 MPa for uni-directional to 70 MPa for angle-plied SiC/BMAS. Finally, the fatigue damage mechanisms were identified and the mechanical response related to the fatigue damage.