Although Isaac wanted very much to attend art school his family could not afford the tuition fees, and in 1904, at the age of just fourteen, Isaac was apprenticed to an engraver on Fleet Street. While we have been unable to find any official apprenticeship papers relating to Rosenberg, if your ancestor served an apprenticeship it is worth looking into this as a source of information. See The National Archives research guide "Apprenticeship Records as Sources for Genealogy".

Not discouraged, Isaac attended evening art classes at Birbeck College on Fleet Street after work, and his persistence paid off in 1911, when three wealthy Jewish benefactors - Mrs. Delissa Joseph, Mrs Herbert Cohen and Mrs Henrietta Lowy financed his entry to the Slade School of Art – £21 a year!

By the time Isaac had finished his studies three years later, his poor health had returned and he went to stay with his older Sister Minnie in South Africa to convalesce in the warm climate.