The study provides an empirical analysis of the structural characteristics, capacity, and output performance of doctoral education in Hungary for the period between 2021 and 2025, based on the database of the National Doctoral Council and a comprehensive examination of 169 active doctoral schools. The results indicate that the system is highly concentrated and structurally heterogeneous, with output expansion occurring primarily in disciplines that already possess relatively large capacities. The relationship between capacity and performance is positive but non-linear, suggesting that resources alone do not determine the effectiveness of doctoral education. The findings also reveal that different levels of output performance can be observed even under similar capacity conditions, highlighting the importance of institutional and disciplinary characteristics in shaping doctoral education outcomes. The study contributes to a system-level understanding of doctoral education by demonstrating that performance is shaped by the interaction of disciplinary and institutional factors.