How: HSK and TOCFL 对比

TOCFL aligns more closely with the CEFR standard. TOCFL 5 is really what you would expect from someone with C1 proficiency in a language. I've met a number of people with HSK6(v2) who were nowhere near C2, so I can only conclude that HSK6(v2) = B2 or a low C1 at best.

HSK v3 (2021) https://www.digmandarin.com/new-hsk.html
Nine levels - but the highest 3 (7-9) are apparently intended for very high-level users (translators, people majoring in the language, etc.).

The theory of the HSK v3 was, based on what I've found online, to align levels 1-6 with the CEFR levels A1-C2. That was the plan for v2, but academics argued that HSK v2 did not meet the mark, so v3 was created.

There is a chart in the link above (the second chart) that shows the difference in vocabulary requirements for v2 and v3, and you can see that v3 requires much more vocabulary in the lower levels, making the progression smoother, and even at level 6 requires 456 more words than the v2 version.

Starting at level 4 (of v3), handwriting will be required. In my personal opinion, it should be required earlier, but I'm not going to argue with them.

The TOCFL is from Taiwan https://www.tw.org/tocfl/
It has three bands, A, B, and C. These are designed to correspond directly to the CEFR A, B, and C levels. There are a total of six levels, 1-6, which again correspond to CEFR A1-C2.

Looking at the vocabulary lists for both tests, they seem approximately the same, with the note that the TOCFL uses traditional characters but still uses pinyin. I guess the Taiwanese realized that pinyin is easier for foreigners to learn than zhuyin or the old romanization forms they used to use. If nothing else, pinyin is an international de facto standard given the population size and political/economic clout of the PRC.

So, based on my analysis, the two tests (HSK v3 levels 1-6 and TOCFL) are roughly equivalent. I don't know if the folks in Taiwan will create higher level tests for more advanced learners, and conversely I am curious as to why the CEFR level C2 is not considered adequate for the purposes for which the HSK v3 will have levels 7-9.