Relative Age Effect (RAE) describes a phenomenon where a child who is born in the early part of a selection period gains a material advantage over a child born late in the selection period. The most common examples occur in academia and sport, where cohorts of children tend to be selected by establishing a somewhat arbitrary “cut-off” date (e.g. the UK school year starts in early September). Those born nearer to the cut-off date may demonstrate greater abilities than younger peers, simply because of this additional growth and development …