I have never been in court in my life. I have a letter of apology and some references. Will I need to speak in court or will I just have to answer yes/no questions? if I have to speak what are they likely to ask me? I am incredibly scared.
In my case the duty solicitor was available to represent me and do most of the talking. I would advise you to ask for the duty solicitor as soon as you get to the court, even though I understand that in some cases they might be too busy to be in court with you when you'll be heard.
Also, in my case, I was warned that if I chose to go with a duty solicitor I would have had to wait longer for my hearing, which indeed was the case as I was heard at about 16:00 even if I had my appointment at 10:00. So, if you have to leave early for any reason, you might want to enter the court on your own.
My written plea of mitigation and my wife's character reference were apparently read attentively by the court but I wasn't asked anything beyond the standard guilty/non guilty question at the beginning and then which rehab course provider I would choose.
The latter was the only question that caught me unprepared. I had been handed a couple of leaflets before the hearing but from all messages in this forum I didn't realise that I could have been given the privilege of picking a specific provider so soon. My expectation was that at most I could have asked for the rehab course, which I basically did in my written plea, but not that they would have asked me which one I'd like. I knew I could anyway choose another one later on, but it was a great positive surprise to be able to choose a course school during the hearing.
However, I hadn't really chosen yet when I was asked, and the court went really the extra mile and looked on the Internet which school was closer to my home during the hearing (!). I've probably been very lucky to find such a nice court, but the bottom line is that it would be good for you to have a look at course providers prior to the hearing so that you can suggest a name if asked.
Good luck,
Z