You will have to go to court, yes. Depending on the magistrate though, you may be able to plead to keep your licence if its loss resulted in financial hardship such as the loss of your job.
This happened to me 3 years ago. (Yes, I deserved it, I don't pretend I didn't. In slight defence, they were all incured on the motorway) My job at the time required me to cover 50,000+ miles a year and I would have been sc*ewed.
I was given an extra 5 points and a �400 fine. It certainly made me slow down.