There is a growing number of observation-based measures of sea level related patterns with the advent of the Argo floats (since the early 2000s) and satellite altimeters (since 1993). These measures provide a valuable means to evaluate aspects of global model simulations, such as the global ocean-sea ice simulations run as part of the interannual Coordinated Ocean- ice Reference Experiments Griffies et al. (2009), Danabasoglu et al. (2013). In addition, these CORE-II simulations provide a means for evaluating the likely mechanisms causing sea level variations, particularly when models with different skill are compared against each other and observations. We have conducted an assessment of CORE-II simulations from 13 model configurations Griffies et al. (2013), with a focus on their ability to capture observed trends in ocean heat content as well as the corresponding dynamic sea level over the period 1993- 2007. Here, we provide a synopsis of the assessment.