This may be the coldest take on the internet, but the HSK (standing for Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, i.e. “Test of Chinese Level”) is a flaming pile of garbage. In general, language proficiency tests are a good thing. Schools and companies need them to make sure the entering students and workers can effectively communicate in the language, and learners of languages can set the test as either a benchmark of progress or a concrete external motivation. I have plenty of friends in China who often speak vaguely of needing to sign up or study for the HSK 4. It also seems to be level 4, which indicates a decent level of proficiency but not crazy about it.
Having taken both the old HSK and the new HSK, which at this point has completely replaced it (so no hopes of “HSK Classic” coming back), the main problem with the HSK is that it is skewed too low. This is readily encapsulated by the follow slide from a lecture:
Because the HSK divides into 6 levels (which, I’ll admit makes more sense than the 3 test — 11 level system of the old version), China insists on it corresponding to the Common European Framework (the A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2 levels). This is complete bullshit. In truth, a level A2 speaker of Chinese would have a decent chance of passing the HSK Level 4, while the hardest test only corresponds to the borderline between B2 and C1.
So why produce so many distinct, super easy exams? The official dogma is that foreigners (outside of China) only spend a couple hours a week studying the language and it would be too discouraging to have to study for two years before being good enough to take the test. The truth is its all a scam. The HSK is quite pricey, and by having a separate test for each level, a potential test taker is going to be sucked into taking the exam multiple times over the course of their study.
So, should you take the HSK? If you want to, why not. But I would steer clear of the first three exams. The level six may seem daunting, but it is really not. They use the same voice actors for the listening section as every textbook in China, so they speak slowly and clearly in perfect Mandarin. The reading section questions are so easy, that you can figure out the answer without even reading the passages, and finally, though it is hard to write a full essay by hand without being able to look up how to write some characters, you have ten minutes to read the passage you are tasked with summarizing, so you can cram the essential characters.