A composite panel consisting of outer skins and an inner core consisting of a foamed polymer, wherein the structure or properties of the inner core are anisotropic. The composite panel can be made by applying external heat and pressure to melt a skin of thermoplastic composite and an initial thickness of a thermoplastic core which has anisotropic properties causing the skin and core to fuse together followed by cooling the fused structure. The composite panel can be made by applying external heat and pressure to melt layers of a thermoplastic adhesive positioned between the outer skins and an inner core consisting of a foamed polymer, wherein the structure or properties of the inner core are anisotropic, so that the skins are bonded to the core by the melted layers of the thermoplastic adhesive followed by cooling the bonded structure.