In this paper, finite element simulation (via ANSYS) is applied to systematically reveal the influence of the shell thicknessand prestrain in the shell on stimulus-induced shrinkage in electrospun polymeric fibres. The stimulus-induced shrinkage issimulated as cooling-induced shrinkage in the prestrained shell in the prestrained direction, while in the transverse direction,the shell expands accordingly to ensure there is no volume change in the shell, except elastic deformation. The maximumshrinkage corresponds to the prestrain in the shell. The inner core is without prestrain, and thus, there is no shrinkage/expansion in any direction. An initial small curvature is introduced into the simply supported fibres to avoid the problemof buckling conditions/mode, et al. Within the range of this study, it is found that Young’s modulus, length of the fibre andboundary conditions have little effect on the final relative axial shrinkage. The prestrain in the shell is always more than thefinal relative axial shrinkage. The final relative axial shrinkage strongly depends on the diameter of the electrospun fibres,and hence, we may base on this feature to experimentally determine the shell thickness and prestrain in the shell.