The stress field arising in the fibre pull-out test is analysed by means of the finite element method. A focus has been placed on the roles of the compliant interlayer present between fibre and matrix for stress distributions in the constituents and debond process at the interface regions. In a parametric study on a carbon fibre-epoxy matrix composite, elastic properties and thickness of the interlayer were varied, and the results compared with those for composites without interlayers. The practical implications of the findings are critically discussed.